Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead for Baxter

In association with Alan Committie, The Little Theatre and the UCT Drama Department will present Tom Stoppards's masterful play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, from 21 April to 5 May.

Stoppard, who directed the 1990 film version of the play with Tim and Gary Oldman, turns Hamlet on its head by using the title characters as leads and not minor players. The production concerns two of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and follows their misadventures, musings and actions as the events of Shakespeare's Hamlet occur in the background.

The work explores the comic journey of two amusing characters as they find themselves trapped within the world of Hamlet the play, destined to die and having to confront their fate.

Heading the cast of senior UCT drama students are three professional actors, namely Committie (alter-ego of Johan van der Walt from MNet's Laugh Out Loud) as Rosencrantz, Rob Van Vuuren (Twakkie from the SABC comedy hit The Most Amazing Show) as Guildenstern, and Neville Thomas (UCT graduate and the comic face behind the Tempest car hire adverts) as the Player King. Christopher Weare directs the play.

Each performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead will be preceded by a short version of Hamlet, this year's set work study for the Western Cape's Grade 12s. Tickets are R30 for pupils and R60 for adults. For reservations and block bookings please contact Susan Cole on 021 480 7129 or email bookings@hiddingh.uct.ac.za.