Rosencats - Rosencrantz

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

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“- Why are you looking at me that way? - Because there is nothing on this earth that’s better than you,”

— Ivan Bunin, from The Collected Short Stories; “Tanya,” wr. c. 1935

Nunn’s production not only gets to the play’s emotional core, but also artfully distinguishes between the two leads. Samuel Barnett’s outstanding Rosencrantz strikes an often hilarious note of panic and fluster in the face of uncertainty, while Jamie Parker’s Guildenstern strives to maintain an air of Socratic stoicism. Chris Andrew Mellon, stepping in at short notice for Tim Curry, also does an excellent job as the Player, who is a mixture of seedy pimp and robust rhetorician. Yet what finally moves one is the way the two heroes, as the darkness closes in, cling to each other for comfort. Exactly as in Beckett.

(Full review in The Guardian)

The two boys playing the leads, Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker, are absolutely amazing - a true tour-de-force double act reminiscent of Ant and Dec but with a much better script and very extensive and complicated dialogue, and they carry the play with a professionalism and confidence which seem perfectly natural and unforced. Most famous for their roles in The History Boys on stage and screen, here their quick-fire repartee and rhythm of speech are outstanding.

(Full review from The British Theatre Guide)