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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - A Play
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - A Play | Tom Stoppard
Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm's-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare's play. In Tom Stoppard's best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.
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review
Abailliekaras
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Pickpick

A fun and thought-provoking read. (Of course ideally it would be better to see it on stage). I loved the wordplay, the sense of character & how Stoppard achieves this in just a few lines & the scope it gives for the reader (audience) to find meaning in it. To me it was asking if our lives are pre-determined, or how much we make our own fate, & what is the point of life. Much humour, a satirical take on Hamlet & theatre, & poignant moments.

Pinta Fave! “There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said no. But somehow we missed it.” 2y
MrsMalaprop No way! I read this for English Literature in Year 11. Loved it at the time, which is interesting to reflect on now. How could 16 year-old me have got it 🤔🤷‍♀️😆. 2y
Abailliekaras @Pinta heartbreaking! @MrsMalaprop we did Hamlet at school and I almost went back to re-read - this would have been a great companion read. 2y
See All 6 Comments
MrsMalaprop Yes, we did Hamlet & R&G. 2y
CarolynM I can confirm it‘s very good on stage. 2y
Abailliekaras @CarolynM I‘m sure I‘ll see it at some point! 2y
31 likes6 comments
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NotCool

Rosencranz: Shouldn‘t we do something productive?
Guildenstern: What did you have in mind? A short blunt human pyramid?

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NotCool
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Guil: I think we can say we made some headway.
Rod: You think so?
Guil.: I think we can say that.

-weirdly Rozencranz and Guildenstern are Dead feels very profound when self isolating.

AvidReader25 I love that play! 5y
NotCool I‘ve never seen it live, but I‘d like to 5y
6 likes2 comments
review
Andrea313
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Pickpick
Eggs Oh I dearly love this play💗👏🏻💗👏🏻 5y
batsy It's so good! 5y
OriginalCyn620 I‘ve never read it but I‘m intrigued! 5y
Andrea313 @OriginalCyn620 As with so many plays, it's most impactful when you have the chance to see it. The film adaptation with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth is wonderful, if you're looking for something to watch. :) 5y
21 likes4 comments
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jenniferw88
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Here you go @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage here are my prompts for summer #booked2019.

Had to change my original book to movie (The Goldfinch) as I wasn't getting on with it.

Cinfhen 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Great—thanks for posting!! ♥️📚👊🏻 5y
66 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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TK-421
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“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” #Bridge #QuotsyAug19

review
suvata
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Mehso-so

This is a very popular play written in the 1960s. From Shmoop: “The play cleverly re-interprets Shakespeare's Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The Laurel-and-Hardy-like pair are totally incidental to the action of Hamlet, subject to the whims of the King Claudius – who gets them to betray Hamlet – and then tricked by Hamlet into delivering a letter that condemns them to death.”

CarolynM I haven't read it. I was lukewarm about the film but the stage production I saw subsequently I liked a lot. 5y
Lcsmcat @CarolynM I agree that like most plays it is better when seen. When well directed it‘s incredibly funny. But an overdone production, not so much. 5y
OnlyYoo I think I saw a movie of this that was pretty good. I thought that it was pretty funny! 5y
suvata I guess I will have to check out the play or the movie. The book was a little hard to understand in parts. 5y
readordierachel The movie is awesome 5y
57 likes5 comments
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jenniferw88
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IF you can see the hill in the distance, that's where my house is! Alternative route to & from the shops pictured, I prefer the park route I've been posting!

Haven't had any additional fruit & veg in my diet, just the usual amount which I'm not counting as I haven't gone out of my way to consume it.

Have tagged the book I've completed.

#bfc progress not so good this week, but I did have a hospital appt & a visit to Bletchley. @wanderinglynn

wanderinglynn Way to go! You‘re making good progress! 🙌🏻 6y
IamIamIam Some days, progress is just getting off the couch you would rather stay sitting on! 👍 6y
TheSpineView Keep it up! Little steps still get you to your goal! 6y
BookwormAHN You can do this 👏🏻 6y
81 likes4 comments
review
jenniferw88
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Mehso-so

3 🌟 My replacement for G on #litsyatoz @BookishMarginalia as I wasn't getting on with my original (The Goldfinch). Also my replacement for #booked2019 #booktomovie @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

It was OK but I might have to borrow the 1990 film!

Severnmeadows The film‘s really good!😊 6y
Leniverse The film is one of my favourite movies! Actually haven‘t read the book though, so I can‘t compare. 6y
readordierachel The film is amazing 👍🏼 6y
Cinfhen Oh wow!! Lots of love for the film!!!! 6y
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jenniferw88
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My heart 🎶 is not dying 🎶 - I have had a clean bill of health from my heart hospital! #tomorrowneverknows @Cinfhen @rohit-sawant

2 books I picked up yesterday from Hughenden

rretzler That‘s wonderful news! 6y
Kaye Terrific ! 🌸💕🌸 6y
Moray_Reads Thank goodness! Glad to hear you're in good health 🧡 6y
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Cinfhen Yay!!!! Great news 💕💕💕 6y
squirrelbrain Yay! Fab news! 💕💕💓💕💕 6y
CaitZ Fantastic! 6y
rockpools Yay! So pleased for you! 💖 6y
LeahBergen Wonderful! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Lynnsoprano Great news!

6y
Itchyfeetreader Wonderful news happy happy Monday to you x 6y
Annl 💜😘👏🏻 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Great news! 6y
CarolynM That's marvellous news! 💕 6y
RohitSawant So great to hear! 💜 6y
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review
TracyReadsBooks
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Pickpick

Ah, now I know how I came across this or, more precisely, what inspired me to read it—Waiting for Godot. This play also centers on two characters who bumble & stumble their way through ridiculous conversations, & brief moments of profound, albeit usually unrecognized, observations/revelations as they are caught up in events (they are two minor characters in Hamlet—who appears along with several other characters) larger than themselves. Fun read.

CoffeeNBooks I loved this, and I love Waiting for Godot! 6y
15 likes1 comment
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TracyReadsBooks
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My next read comes straight from the “I randomly decided I needed to read this though I can‘t remember exactly why” part of my brain. Honestly, I‘m a little surprised I haven‘t already read it—my husband tells me he‘s read it!—but there is always a book that slides through the cracks. According to my husband, I can expect a very funny read.

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JLaurenceCohen

Tom Stoppard's classic of Theater of the Absurd re-tells Hamlet from the perspective of two of its minor characters. It's hilarious.

CoffeeNBooks I love this one! 📚 6y
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arielmonsen
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what‘s next.

Texreader Nice!! 6y
5 likes1 comment
review
aebus
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Pickpick

Super fun read, especially for theatre geeks. Chock full of puns, absurdism, and some pretty meta comments on determinism. Definitely gave some new credence to “all the world‘s a stage” 😛

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CoffeeNBooks
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1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
2. J.K. Rowling
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (I 💙 Indiana Jones movies!!)
4. Reese's Pieces
#ManicMonday #LetterR @JoScho

bookcollecter Yes! IndianaJonee 6y
JoScho Thanks for playing 🤗💖 6y
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Iceangel9
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Mehso-so

I think I would like it better if I were watching it performed.

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Billypar
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#StupidMan #SeptemberDanes
An assortment of works featuring men of questionable intellect- though at times proving to be wiser than they first appear. @Kalalalatja @Cinfhen

Cathythoughts Good point .. the wise man & the fool ❤️ 6y
Cinfhen Well said ❤️ 6y
Kalalalatja There‘s always room for redemption 🙌 6y
42 likes4 comments
review
emilycoc
Pickpick

Really glad I read this! It was a challenging read for me in so far as it's been a few years since I've read a play for leisure (or at all...) and I found had to get my head wrapped around the story in a different way than when I read novels. I also struggled somewhat to remember the plot of Hamlet, to be totally honest. Once I started getting into it, I enjoyed this play and even laughed out loud a few times!

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deathmetalcardigan
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We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.

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emilycoc
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And now for something totally different from the chick lit fiction I've been reading lately. This was an impulse Amazon purchase recently. I studied Hamlet in Grade 12 and then (obviously HAD to) took a Shakespeare course in undergrad, but the first time I heard about this play was in my Intro to English class. I haven't read this before and am excited to!

CoffeeNBooks I think it's great! 6y
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LiterRohde
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“Do you want to play questions?
How do you play that?
You have to ask a question.
Statement. One - Love.
Cheating.
How?
I haven't started yet.
Statement. Two - Love.
Are you counting that?
What?
Are you counting that?
Foul. No repetition. Three - Love and game.
I'm not going to play if you're going to be like that.”

#QuotsyMay18 | 5: #Comic

https://youtu.be/tkxRzV3gtDc

CoffeeNBooks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is great! 7y
CarolynM 👏👏👏 7y
68 likes2 comments
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batsy
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Nothing like a subversive #homage to get you thinking about the original. Top notch absurdism in this play. Loved it!

#Aprella @Cinfhen @Mdargusch @emilyhaldi @Reviewsbylola

kalinichta The film version is my favorite film. 💚 7y
batsy @kalinichta I really need to watch it soon! ☺️ 7y
Mdargusch So true! 7y
See All 13 Comments
Cinfhen Your blurb is 🙌🏻💕 7y
Reviewsbylola Very true! 7y
CrowCAH It‘s a great movie; loved it! 7y
BiblioLitten Great choice❤🙌 7y
emilyhaldi Well said!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 7y
batsy @CrowCAH 👍🏽🙂 7y
batsy @BiblioLitten Thanks :) 7y
RohitSawant Love this post! 7y
CarolynM Perfect 👏👏👏 7y
batsy @rohit-sawant @CarolynM Thanks, guys 🙂 7y
100 likes13 comments
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Carolyn11215
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Rented the Gary Oldman, Tim Roth and Richard Dreyfuss movie to watch tonight as I‘m almost done with the play. @hermyknee

hermyknee ♥️♥️♥️ 7y
18 likes1 comment
blurb
Carolyn11215

Reading this for #freakyfriday recommendation by @hermyknee and hoping to find the movie on Netflix or Amazon as soon as I‘m finished because I think watching it dramatized would be sidesplitting. Reminds me a lot of Waiting for Godot, which I saw on the stage in NYC a million years ago!

Lcsmcat Loved this! My husband was Guildenstern in his high school‘s production back in the day. 7y
Carolyn11215 @Lcsmcat I can imagine that playing one of these two would be a real hoot. Abbot and Costello‘s Who‘s on first routine keeps going through my mind as I read the dialogue! 7y
hermyknee Yay! The Gary Oldman & Tim Roth version is hilarious! 7y
Lcsmcat @Carolyn11215 It was fun - lots of dialogue to memorize but he‘s good at that kind of repartee. 7y
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review
AshleyHoss820
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Pickpick

I borrowed this one from the library but I am TOTALLY BUYING MY OWN COPY! This play is fun, absurd, and amazing. From the POV of two minor characters from Hamlet. The dialogue is on fire. If I could catch this live, I absolutely would...especially if I can haz Radcliffe...😂😂😂

Eggs Such a great play 👏🏻 7y
AshleyHoss820 @Eggs I agree!! 😄 7y
Billypar Agreed! I would also check out the film if you haven't yet, starring Gary Oldman and Tim Roth- it's been years since I've seen it, but I remember it being good. 7y
See All 8 Comments
AshleyHoss820 @Billypar Yes! Thank you! I will! I saw a link to it while looking for pictures! Gary Oldman is one of my FAVORITES! 😊😊 7y
vivastory I second @Billypar The film is excellent! 7y
AshleyHoss820 @vivastory Awesome!! I‘m definitely going to watch now! 😄 7y
rainswept My favourite play, no contest. The film adaptation is excellent, as well ☺️ 7y
AshleyHoss820 @VincentDiakuw I‘m going to start keeping an eye out for performances near me! 😄 I loved it and the dialogue! 7y
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AshleyHoss820
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“A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense not to himself.”
STARK RAVING SANE!
😂😂😂

batsy I loved this! 7y
AshleyHoss820 @batsy It‘s such a fun play! 😄 7y
33 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Kayjaym0m
Mehso-so

Play from secondary Hamlet character pov

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TheRomantiCate
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March 5: #MarchInBooks Under 200 pages... I don‘t have very many of these 😜😜😜

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Giabow
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I‘m on the play selection committee for a local community theatre. This means there are a lot of plays to read between now and April when we pick the season. Thankfully, most of the plays are now sent as PDFs, so I can read them in my tablet.

review
batsy
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Pickpick

Ros: We're (Hamlet's) friends.
Guil: How do you know?
Ros: From our young days brought up with him.
Guil: You've only got their word for it.

"Words, words, words." That's all we have. This is my first Stoppard play. Brilliant, existentialist humour. The absurdity of the roles we're expected to play in life & realising that we might have been miscast. It helped me understand Hamlet in that context: how some people can never adjust to faking it.

batsy This is also about the problem of citizenship, I think. I don't know much about the context in which Stoppard wrote this but I can sense that the absurdity is a skewering of the ideology of patriotism and how it requires (produces?) docility and submissiveness. Something is indeed rotten in the state; a festering kind of rot. 7y
Eggs ❤️ Stoppard! 7y
batsy @Eggs So good, I should look up his other work :) 7y
See All 9 Comments
readordierachel The film version of this with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth is outstanding. I should really read the play :) 7y
batsy @ReadOrDieRachel I need to watch it, I've heard only good things 😊 7y
readinginthedark I‘m hoping to read this after I finish Hamlet! 7y
batsy @readinginthedark I'll be interested to know what you think! It's hard for me to recommend this because it's so bizarre/absurd and not many people might like that. But it's an interesting companion read, I think 🙂 7y
readinginthedark I was just thinking yesterday about what a crappy situation Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are thrown into. I mean, from their points-of-view, Hamlet really does seem crazy, and they thought they were doing their duties. There‘s no really good reason for them to be killed. 7y
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Andrea313
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MatchlessMarie I was just randomly looking through my copy today! 😄 7y
10 likes1 comment
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aeeklund
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SIFF Film Center was screening the production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead currently playing at the Old Vic starring Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire, and @RavenRenegade and I had entirely too much fun (and ran into bookish people, including @Colleen ). I absolutely adore this play, and it was amazing to see this production, even from across the pond! SO. GOOD.

Laalaleighh I'm in love with him. So jealous 8y
Zelma Ooh, that looks like fun! Love that play and Daniel Radcliffe. 8y
RavenRenegade It was so much fun to see!! :) 8y
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balletbookworm
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Pickpick

Shakespeare's two poor dumb bastards, caught up in words. (Now I want to watch the movie again)

#readathon book 2 (there was an impromptu post-bath nap in there)

mdemanatee Ugh. I freakin' love Tom Stoppard so much. Was talking with my college mentor the other day and he was like "I forgot not everyone loves Arcadia" and I was like "Blasphemy!" 8y
balletbookworm @mdemanatee he writes some of the best stage directions 8y
mdemanatee @balletbookworm And stage directions are so damn hard. I am constantly battling between being a reader (pretty sentence!) and a dramaturg (stage directions need to be absolutely necessary and specific without prescriptive). When it's right, it's so right! 8y
25 likes1 stack add3 comments
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balletbookworm
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Finished with Book 1, now I've decamped to the bath with Book 2, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 💀 ( I've see the movie but never read the play) #readathon #deweys24hourreadathon

30 likes1 stack add
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cleoh
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Perfect way to start my Easter holiday is seeing Daniel Radcliffe in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in London! Really enjoyed the play, absolutely loved seeing Dan Rad prove his acting ability!

LeahBergen Lucky you!! 8y
KarenUK So jealous! 💕 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Thats cool!! I ❤Dan!! 8y
See All 7 Comments
MrsMalaprop Wow, that's very cool. I studied that play in high school & loved it. (edited) 8y
cleoh @MrsMalaprop I studied Hamlet in high school, so it was very cool to see a different adaptation of it! 8y
Zelma Ooh, I love that play! 😍 8y
52 likes1 stack add7 comments
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TheLondonBookworm
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Lucky little me got to see Daniel Radcliffe last night in the hilarious Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead at the Old Vic! It was fantastic, I loved the word play and the actors they really were superb- highly recommended if your near London!! #london #bookworm #theatre

ReadingOver50 Sounds fun 😄 8y
saresmoore Oooh! 8y
KarenUK How exciting! 💕💕 8y
See All 14 Comments
Laalaleighh Oh. I'm in love with him. So jealous! 8y
katedensen Forever jealous. 8y
Eugeniavb Wow! Would love to be near 8y
Dragon So lucky 🍀😀 8y
TheLondonBookworm @ReadingOver50 @saresmoore @KarenUK @Laalaleighh @katedensen @Eugeniavb @Dragon It was amazing 😍😍 and definitely in love with him hahaha there's a great interview online with the two main actors trying to play the question game from the show- hilarious! 8y
katedensen @TheLondonBookworm I actually saw him in Equus with Richard Griffiths YEARS ago, but it was still just after or toward the end of the HP movies, and all I could think was, "Harry Potter is naked." Also, R & G Are Dead is one of my all-time favorite plays. 8y
TheLondonBookworm @katedensen I remember think that coming out but he was a lot younger then! I think he's matured but I didn't see it so couldn't compare! I did see King Lear a while a go in which Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley) was butt naked and it was very odd! I had never read/seen it before but it was brilliant! I'm still getting over the expert word play soooo funny! 8y
katedensen @TheLondonBookworm I highly recommend the film from 1990 -- it's Gary Oldman (Sirius Black!) and Tim Roth as R & G with Richard Dreyfuss as the player. (edited) 8y
Dragon The movie is fun. I really must see it again 😀 8y
TheLondonBookworm @katedensen oooh cool I'll definitely watch that! :) 8y
scripturient So jealous! 😍😍😍 8y
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AvidReader25
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A few of my favorite #FunnyBooks. I'd throw Bill Bryson's books in this stack too. #riotgrams

36 likes2 stack adds
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bookwrm526
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#feistyfeb #alltheworldsastage When I read Hamlet in high school we had to do a group project. My group decided to read this play and put on a small production of a portion of it. One of my best memories of things I was (sort of) forced to read in school!

LindaGrace812 I read this in hs too - voluntarily! I was fascinated by the names Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They sounded quite exotic to my very, very Protestant ears! 😁 8y
43 likes1 comment
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Leigh0906
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#FeistyFeb Day 7- I prefer to watch plays- not read them. The exception is Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. #alltheworldsastage

Hobbinol Classic! 8y
Krysta So great. 8y
12 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Yossarian
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I think the best example of #alltheworldsastage is Stoppard's play that puts onstage everything in Hamlet that happened off-stage.

In this scene, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are practicing Verbal Tennis, where the goal is to answer every question with another question and never reveal any information. They get badly outplayed on-stage in Hamlet (but off-stage in Stoppard).

drokka I love this play! It's a more honest view of humans, granted the times are different and plays were both elitists and a means of being able to jeer at the nobility without being sent to the gallows if in the peasant class. 8y
72 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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ElizaTodd

"We're more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see."

SO IN THE MOOD TO READ THIS.
Unfortunately I work a 12-hour shift today ? but I know what I'll be reading later!

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Jel
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Missing Hamlet.
“We cross our bridges as we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and the presumption that once our eyes watered.”

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Kirstin
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These two. 🙌😂😍😍 #favoritefriendship #booktober

CoveredInRust This play is awesome! 8y
RealLifeReading Fun pick!! 8y
ElizaTodd I love it! Such a great duo ☺️ 8y
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Anitta
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We're actors — we're the opposite of people!
#booktober
#favoritefriendships

Hobbinol This was a great choice!👍 8y
29 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Booktrovert
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The "iconic duo" thing went a bit cuckoo on twitter. This duo immediately came to mind - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. OMG I love them so much!! So I thought we could do an #IconicDuo #LiteraryEdition here @Litsy Who is your iconic literary duo??? This is so much fun to think about!! Can't wait to see everyone's replies.

Booktrovert I was a total nerd and liked my own post - because these two make me so freaking happy. I just see their faces and smile. I loved the film adaptation of Stoppard's play. 8y
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Nafiza
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"We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except the memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered."

? Gets me every single time.

Glaiza_echo This quote has convinced me to read it. Will have to dig out my sister's copy from her shelf though 8y
Nafiza @Glaiza_echo English is Tom Stoppard's second language which makes his mastery of it so much more awesome. 8y
11 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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ElizaTodd
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As we know, there are literally hundreds of movies made from books but I wanted to choose one that maybe most people haven't seen.
I love Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The book is based on these two minor characters from Hamlet and fun fact, the movie is directed by the same man who wrote the book, Tom Stoppard.
WATCH IT PEOPLE YOU WILL ALL LOVE IT

#RosencrantzandGuildenstern #septphotochallenge #day8 #MadeIntoAMovie

Kirstin Yes! One of my favourite movies(and book)! Just brilliant! 🙌🏽 8y
Hobbinol Awesome! And I love Stoppard's uber-theatrical screenplay for Anna Karenina.! I thought it was brilliant! And his teleplay for Parade's End was beautiful. 8y
ValerieAndBooks I saw this movie a long time ago but didn't know it was a book. Adding! 8y
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