'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' at The Old Vic

I've known about the play 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' by Tom Stoppard for almost as long as I've known about 'Hamlet'. My old English teacher, Mrs Bowen, told us about it while teaching us about 'Hamlet' at 'A' level and encouraging us to read and think critically about what we read.  But I never read 'Rosencrantz' and I've never seen it performed so it was, of course, on the list of things to see when it was announced that it would celebrate it's 50th anniversary at The Old Vic.

The fact that it would star Daniel Radcliffe would be a minor distraction since it would mean the Harry Potter fans would be out in force to see their hero. I've seen Daniel on stage before, in 'Equus' years ago when he was much younger and in 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' on Broadway. He was ok in both, better at singing than dancing (I recall he always seemed to be surrounded by dancers in dance numbers, never out front leading) so what would he be like in a play with the endless words of Tom Stoppard? In a sense he's already won by returning to the London stage in a 'big' play that carries expectations and he's not afraid of the risk.

So. Back to the story. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are friends of Hamlet from university in the Shakespeare play 'Hamlet'. They are summoned to Elsinore to find out what's really wrong with Hamlet and then, later, escort him to England where he is supposed to be killed by the tributory English. They're only in a few small scenes and have few lines, so they're very minor characters and that's where the interest is in this play - what are they doing, saying, thinking when they're not on stage? do they understand the political intrigue they've fallen into? and what really happens to them?

A third main character in this play is also a relatively minor character in 'Hamlet' although of much greater importance, the Player, whose company of actors puts on the play within the play in 'Hamlet' to prick the conscience of the king. After that risky play, the Player and his troupe are no longer welcome in Elsinore and so must leave, oddly on the same ship as the young men use to travel to England. The Player meets up with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at various places on the journey to and from Elsinore and keeps popping up during the play.

The main parts are taken by Daniel Radcliffe as Rosencrantz, Joshua McGuire as Gildenstern and David Haig as the Player. Joshua McGuire is the gobby one and gets the lions share of the lines between the two friends - will he ever shut up? They make a really good fist of it and seem to have developed a good rapport and partnership but I must save my kudos for David Haig. Haig has, for seeming decades played the part of a middle aged man slowly fraying at the edges and going off in mad manic panics - he's played that role so often that that's how I think of him. He even played an Edwardian shop-keeper like that in the worst play I've ever seen a decade or so ago (don't ask, please, it's still a painful memory). But he fully redeemed himself in this play and easily outshone the rest of the cast. One minute playing an Actor (with a capital 'A'), the next a pimp, the next a cockerney pirate and then a dead man (not really since he comes back to life). That was a very impressive performance and almost - but not quite - wipes the slate clean.

The simple staging worked well and I liked the lighting, always subtle and helping to focus attention where it needed to be. This will do no harm to anyone's career and seems to be going down well with critics and audiences alike and its run has been extended into May so there are still plenty of opportunities to see it if you can get tickets.

'Amadeus' at Chichester Festival Theatre

Yesterday we got the train down to Chichester in rural West Sussex to the shiny new Chichester Festival Theatre for the matinee performance of 'Amadeus' with Rupert Everett in the lead as Salieri. I've never seen the play or the film so I didn't know what to expect but I was hit quite forcefully by Rupert's tireless performance and his rage at God.

'Amadeus' is the tale of Mozart's period of living in Vienna as an adult after touring Europe as a child prodigy. Mozart escapes the authority of his father and marries for love in Vienna while continuing to seduce as many women as possible. Salieri rules the music scene in Vienna as the court composer who is driven to distraction by the perfection of Mozart's music and plots his downfall.

The story is told in flashback with Salieri an old man in a wheelchair who transforms into his younger self with a smudge of paint on his eyebrows, a dark wig and throwing off his dressing gown. He is transformed into the upright Salieri of his youth encountering Mozart for the first time and having to run from the salon because of the sheer beauty of Mozart's playing. Salieri had previously made a pact with God that he would become a great composer but, somehow, God has undermined this pact by throwing Mozart into the mix and Salieri comes to see this as a war against God who uses Mozart as his weapon.

In typical Faustian manner, as Salieri's star rises Mozart descends into drunkenness and poverty, eventually dying. But years later it's Mozart's music that is played everywhere and not Salieri's so his last throw of the dice is to claim that he killed Mozart so his name will live forever linked to his hated Mozart. It seems to have worked.

Rupert Everett is the star of the show, on stage the whole time in what must be an exhausting performance. He is haughty, charming, feeble when old and vigorous when in his prime. His is a commanding presence on that stylishly baroque stage with minimal scenery or props, a piano on stage much of the time, a few chairs, chandeliers in the air and glass sliding doors all delivering an impression of opulence and grandeur fit for the Austro-Hungarian Emperor in the 1780s.

We have the potty-mouthed, childish Mozart as the enfant-terrible and genius of music stamping round the stage talking about shit and spanking, bringing challenge to the musical establishment of the court and city of Vienna, so wanting to please but continually failing. Joshua McGuire is the grotesque of Mozart for most the play before he becomes a figure of pity in the final scenes, desperate to please but never able to do so. Jessie Buckley plays Mozart's long-suffering wife and very good she is too, clearly the more adult of the two lovers but also capable of descending into lewdness.  She plays a nice line between long-suffering wife and harlot and in the final scene we see her selling Mozart's scores by the note.

I thought the whole cast were great, with the twin chorus gentlemen in grey appearing and disappearing in a blink with news about Mozart, repeating what they say and swirling round in frock coats. Simon Jones was great as the Emperor, not engaged and avoiding any and all arguments or need to make a decision (I missed his dressing gown though).

I hope this production transfers to the West End soon. It's a short run at Chichester and is only on for another two weeks and is definitely worth seeing.