River Run Centre is presenting Touchmark Theatre, Guelph’s professional theatre company, and Tom Stoppard’s comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
Douglas Beattie, Artistic Director of Touchmark, recently announced the casting the play, which will run for five performances from Feb. 19 to 22, in the Co-operators Hall.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is Shakespeare’s Hamlet as experienced by two minor characters who spend a lot of time waiting in the wings. As Hamlet observes in his own play, “the time is out of joint.”
Stoppard took London’s theatre scene by storm in 1967 with the play. Its Broadway opening later the same year met with similarly enthusiastic plaudits and won the 1968 Tony Award for best play.
The cast of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead consists of ten actors with a wealth of experience with Shakespeare and the classics.
Stratford Festival favourite Brian Tree and award-winning Toronto actor and playwright Eric Woolfe have appeared in Touchmark productions before. Damien Atkins (Guildenstern) and Shane Carty (Rosencrantz) will make their Touchmark debuts.
Carty played prominent or leading roles in three recent Stratford seasons. Atkin’s recent credits include Frost-Nixon for CanStage and The Way of the World, The Caretaker, King Lear and The Importance of Being Earnest for Soulpepper.
The cast includes Alison Deon (Ophelia), Michele Kaye (Alfred), David Mackett (the Player King), Patric Masurkevitch (Polonius), Andrew Sabiston (Claudius) and Lara Rose Tansey (Gertrude).
Tickets are on sale at the River Run Centre box office, and range from $20 to $30 with discounts available for students and seniors, and eyeGO in effect.
They may be purchased www.riverrun.ca, at 519-763-3000 or in person at the box office.
