Posted by OysterBoy at res106a-035.rh.rit.edu on November 06, 2000 at 23:36:48:
In Reply to: Sorry, but... posted by TKD27 on November 06, 2000 at 20:41:51:
: What is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead? I've never heard of it before...
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet (I assume you've at least heard of that). Since you haven't heard of R&G, you probably haven't read Hamlet. Well, if you saw the Lion King, which was Disney's attempt to make a version of Hamlet for the kiddies, R&G would be the Hyenas(sp?), but also pretending to be friends with the prince (Hamlet/Simba..whatever). They're pretty much the comic relief of Hamlet, so a few years back Tom Stoppard (writer of Shakepeare In Love) wrote a comedy called 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead', which is a rewriting of Hamlet from R&G's point of view. The entire time, the two walk in and out of the most famous scenes in the play Hamlet and act as observers to the whole fiasco, but never part of it. But every now and then, when they interact with other characters (all while keeping to their lines in the original play), they accidentally create huge changes in the lives they touch, usually for comedic purposes. So, to be short (which I should have done first...oh well) they are the Jay and Silent Bob of Shakepeare's Hamlet. Hence my support for VA5 being titled "Jay and Silent Bob are Dead".
-Melencholy OysterBoy
ps. for those who feel the need to be smartasses about the whole thing: yes, I realize 'R&G are dead' is not a comedy, but and existential piece on the nature of self, while using comedy to lighten the overall tone so the message goes down smoother, yada yada. Stoppard should never direct the movie versions of his plays.