Tag Archives: Drayton Arms Theatre

ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

★★★

Drayton Arms Theatre

ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

Drayton Arms Theatre

★★★

“Different Theatre holds its own; this is an ambitious play, and one they tackled well”

Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – no mean feat for a cast of 4 – remains an engaging piece of absurdist metatheatre. Directed by Sam Chittenden, this production, though small, economises engagingly with Polonius puppets and Ophelia dolls.

For those who don’t remember their Shakespeare or their Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead follows the two eponymous characters. Whilst mere side characters and victims of Hamlet’s rampages in the source material, in Stoppard’s play, they are central figures, desperately trying to navigate existentialism, actors, and an unhinged Hamlet. They yap about biased coin tosses, a human Schrodinger’s Cat, and word games, until petitioned by King Claudius to suss out Hamlet’s odd behaviour. Thus, the double act begins listlessly plodding around Elsinore, meekly trying and failing to engage Hamlet in meaningful conversation. The only people they ever really engage with are the travelling players, who are always performing.

Eventually, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are shipped off to their death in England, where at least they won’t be made to watch any more theatre. Except the players are also on board. It’s a series of more and more unfortunate events.

Perhaps this play, which directly uses the source material of Hamlet, is undermined by the smallness of the venue. The narrative and progression of time seemed at odds with the space, though perhaps this was part of Stoppard’s surrealist agenda. That being said, with three acts and two intervals, the piece did drag somewhat.

This is a demanding play, requiring theatrical dexterity and total command of the language. The cast, though competent and agile in their multi-rolling, perhaps struggled with such demands. With its post-modernist conceits and snappy dialogue, it was a challenge to maintain momentum.

It did often feel clumsy, and played for laughs, rather than trusted as an innately witty and erudite piece of writing.

However, the actors were a cohesive bunch, especially Ross Gurney-Randall as the Player and Claudius. Ben Baeza and Morgan Corby as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were well-matched, and distinct in an Odd Couple-esque way. One addition was the employment of audience members during the play within the play. By dragging volunteers in to play the roles of Queen, King, and Uncle, Chittenden toyed engagingly with the politics of metatheatre. The downside of this, however, is it tipped the piece into pantomime territory, which is always a terrifying prospect.

It may seem a small point, but volume was a noticeable problem. Where Corby was a little too quiet, Baeza was consistently too loud. His projection, in such a venue, felt a little like an auricular assault. But they worked well together and maintained a decent rapport.

As an amateur production, Different Theatre holds its own; this is an ambitious play, and one they tackled well. It did, however, crave more soldering and slickness if it is going to tackle Stoppard.



ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

Drayton Arms Theatre

Reviewed on 10th June 2025

by Violet Howson

 

 

 


 

 

 

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ROSENCRANTZ

ROSENCRANTZ

ROSENCRANTZ

SARAH QUAND MÊME



Drayton Arms Theatre

SARAH QUAND MÊME at the Drayton Arms Theatre

“a confusing and frustrating experience”

Sarah Quand Même is a one-woman show about the life of Sarah Bernhardt, a French actress who recalls her life to her granddaughter Lysiane. You need to know that the entire play is performed in a thick French accent with a shrill infantilising affectation that grows tiring over the course of 80 minutes. There is little distinction between the various characters in Sarah’s life which also makes it almost impossible to discern different voices; an absolutely terminal mistake for a one-woman show. The play is a confusing and frustrating experience as a result. There are brief moments where some kind of distinction between characters is made, allowing occasional insight and intrigue into her life- but these are few and far between.

Written and acted by Susie Lindeman, Sarah is performed in a one note state seemingly permanently on the verge of crying in an over-the top fashion that speeds through dialogue. Moments in Sarah’s life that are genuinely heartfelt feel parodied and lost in the hysterical mess of scenes that are sometimes separated with the sound of champagne popping. The viewer is left totally lost and unable to understand any kind of story. In a curious choice of direction by Wayne Harrison, pieces of paper scattered across the stage are picked up, played with and discarded as we go through the chapters of Sarah’s life, possibly in homage to her life reading scripts. The tale of a poorly received and misunderstood actor feels hard to sympathise with when watching a play that is so worthy of criticism.

A lone highlight is the atmospheric and evocative lighting design (Martin Kinnane). The use of footlights evoke the stage lighting of Sarah’s era and heighten scenes, even when what is happening in them is unclear. The bold spotlights contrast with the ethereal colours as Lindeman floats around the stage in various night dresses. Another surprisingly well executed aspect is the set design. A decadent set of regency chairs and a deep red chaise lounge place us well in the time period, accompanied by Art deco posters and a light-bulb adorned dressing room desk (Justin Nardella).

As all linear biographies are destined to end with a death, It is not a surprise that Sarah Quand Même includes an almost comically slow and drawn out death that epitomises the problems with the performance. No amount of beautiful and underused set could fix the issues with the piece and the 80 minutes spent in the Drayton Arms could be better spent on more polished and watchable shows. Sarah Bernhardt may have been a fascinating and extraordinary person in her time but this performance did not portray this through its content or execution.


SARAH QUAND MÊME at the Drayton Arms Theatre

Reviewed on 29th February 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Darren Struwig

 


 

 

Recently reviewed by Jessica:

TWO ROUNDS | ★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | February 2024
WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE | ★★★ | Soho Theatre | February 2024

SARAH QUAND MÊME

SARAH QUAND MÊME

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