Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are babes
In this Danish Modern resetting of Hamlet, it makes a certain amount of sense:
I suppose this was to allow for more female roles in the play (some of the “lords” were also female). But it added an interesting extra layer of comic relief — they were dressed as very trashy women, in a sort of 1980s Madonna mode (Rosencrantz — or maybe it was Guildenstern — had high ratted blonde hair, tight jeans with a sparkly top, and high heels, and the other wore a short tight skirt and low blouse). And they flirted shamelessly with Hamlet while trying to get information from him.
Which, after all, was their assignment from the King. The getting of information, I mean.
tioedong »
10 October 2009 · 10:15 pm
uh, in Hamlet, Rozenkrantz and Guildenburg are “tricked” by Hamlet and end up being killed.
Somehow I don’t think this empowers women very much…
CGHill »
10 October 2009 · 10:29 pm
I don’t think the idea was “empowerment” so much as it was to give everyone in Theatre Arts a chance to participate. They can’t all be Ophelia.
Dr. Weevil »
11 October 2009 · 1:06 pm
Don’t knock transvestite Shakespeare. I moved to Staunton, VA, specifically so I could go to The Blackfriars Playhouse every week. They have some of the best Shakespeare in the world, with quite a bit of cross-gender casting. They did Hamlet and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead last year with a large male Rosencrantz and small female Guildenstern. The picture here does not fully show the difference in size. All the scenes where no one could remember which is which were all the more amusing. Highly recommended if you’re in the Shenandoah Valley or if the touring troupe — including these two — comes to your town (schedule here).
fillyjonk »
11 October 2009 · 1:36 pm
Funny, the deaths of R and G were greatly downplayed in the version I saw. I guess it was mentioned that they had met their ends, but really, after seeing Hamlet drag Polonius’ body across the stage (as in the version I saw), the shock factor of an “offstage” death is somewhat reduced.
I would argue that Hamlet doesn’t seem to empower anyone very much, unless it’s Fortinbras.