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''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, A Tragic Episode, in Three Tabloids'' is a short comic play by W. S. Gilbert, a parody of ''Hamlet'' by William Shakespeare. The main characters in Gilbert's play are King Claudius and Queen Gertrude of Denmark, their son Prince Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Ophelia. Gilbert's play first appeared in ''Fun'' magazine in 1874 after having been rejected for production by several theatre companies.〔Ainger, p. 105〕〔Stedman, p. 127〕 The first performance of the work was not until June 1891, a benefit matinée at the Vaudeville Theatre in London.〔''The Era'', 7 May 1892, p. 9, gives the date as 14 June, but ''Who's Who in the Theatre'', 14th edition, Pitman 1967, ISBN 0-273-43345-8, gives it as 3 June.〕 The play finally ran at the Court Theatre from 27 April 1892 to 15 July, about 77 performances,〔Moss, Simon. ("Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" ) at ''Gilbert & Sullivan: a selling exhibition of memorabilia'', c20th.com, accessed 21 November 2009〕 with Decima Moore as Ophelia, Brandon Thomas as Claudius and Weedon Grossmith as Hamlet.〔''The Era'', 30 April 1892, p. 9〕 An amateur performance in 1900 featured P. G. Wodehouse as Guildenstern.〔McCrum, p. 36〕 The play also enjoyed a production in New York City at the Murray Hill Theatre in 1900. A charity performance in 1902 featured Gilbert himself as Claudius, with Nancy McIntosh as Gertrude.〔''The Manchester Guardian'', 7 November 1902, p. 4〕 Gilbert again played Claudius at a charity performance in 1904 at the Garrick Theatre,〔''The Manchester Guardian'', 20 July 1904, p. 4. The advertised cast included George Bernard Shaw, Anthony Hope and Henry Arthur Jones, but they did not appear for the performance. ''The Fairy's Dilemma'' was the curtain raiser.〕 and in a 1908 revival at the Lyceum Theatre starring Marion Terry.〔''The Times'', 15 July 1908, p. 15〕 A televised performance of the play was given in 1938 with Grahame Clifford as Claudius, Erik Chitty as Guildenstern, Leonard Sachs as Rosencrantz, and Peter Ridgeway as Hamlet.〔(IMDB entry for the 1938 TV version )〕 The play continues to receive occasional productions.〔(Notice of a 2007 performance of the play )〕 It figures in the plot of the 2009 film ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead''. ==Background== 1874 was a busy year for Gilbert. He illustrated ''The Piccadilly Annual''; supervised a revival of ''Pygmalion and Galatea''; and, besides ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern'', he wrote ''Charity''; a play about the redemption of a fallen woman; a dramatisation of ''Ought We to Visit Her?'' (a novel by Annie Edwardes), an adaptation from the French, ''Committed for Trial'', another adaptation from the French called ''The Blue-Legged Lady'', a play, ''Sweethearts'', and ''Topsyturveydom'', a comic opera. He also wrote a Bab-illustrated story called "The Story of a Twelfth Cake" for the ''Graphic'' Christmas number. Gilbert first shopped the script for ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern'' in early 1874 to Henry Irving, who showed interest but became busy with other projects. He next offered it to William Montague at the Globe Theatre, and Montague also expressed interest but later became unavailable.〔 Gilbert next tried his friend Marie Litton and her Court Theatre company. Failing to find a producer, he published the piece in ''Fun'', even though he was unhappy at ''Funs choice of a new editor to succeed the ailing Tom Hood.〔〔Ainger, p. 106〕 Of Gilbert's acting in the role of Claudius in 1904, ''The Times'' wrote: "His Claudius was certainly admirable. He would play Claudius in ''Hamlet'' finely, only the part would give him no chance of making the 'points' he makes so well."〔"Garrick Theatre", ''The Times'', 20 July 1904, p. 10〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (play)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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