Last weekend, I read Waiting for Godot, and then I immediately read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It took me five days to read them both, reading an act a day (Waiting for Godot is two acts, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is three.)
I had not read either of them before, but I had heard that there were similarities. I was absolutely blown away by both of them. And I really felt like I got a lot out of these plays by reading them together like that. They are very similar, both plot-wise and thematically. I highly recommend to anyone, especially if you haven't read them yet, to read these two plays back-to-back. I recommend reading Waiting for Godot first, and would suggest not reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if you've never read Hamlet.
I also encourage anyone who has read both of these plays to discuss here any connections they may have noticed.
by [deleted]
5 Comments
I saw Waiting for Godot with Patrick Stewart and Ian Mackellan, it was amazing. So much of the performance was their doing though, I’d be worried that I wouldn’t pick up on a lot of the humor if I read the play on its own.
These two plays are really as good as theatre gets. I have a beautiful hard cover copy of Godot, and if I ever see R and G, I’ll snap it up.
Yes.
I feel slightly guilty b/c I like *R&G* better but it was influenced by *Godot* and wouldn’t exist without it (and obviously without *Hamlet*). *R&G* is better on the page. It helps to be able to read *Godot* as a performer/director, or to have seen it as an audience member. There’s a great version of the play in print that has French on one side, English on the other.
Heads, heads, heads, heads, heads…
I suggest that the movie adaptation of *R&G* is better after reading the play.
Speaking as someone who loves Beckett’s novels… I’ve kind of always felt Waiting For Godot was some emperor’s new clothes type garbage.
They are my two favorite plays and now I’ve gotten to see sir Ian McKellen and sir Patrick Stewart in Waiting for Godot, AND Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead! Faves on faves on faves !!