ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, JUMPERS AND THE REAL THING : text and performance

Very few modern plays have generated as much excitement in the theatre as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers and The Real Thing. Are they merely witty entertainments or do they demand consideration as serious works of dramatic art? The metatheatrical form of each of the plays is shown to reflect Stoppard's view that the human race has suffered an irreversible fall from grace. Part I analyses how philosophical themes are articulated through the travesty of clichd literary and theatrical forms. Part II evokes a sense of the dazzling comic experience created by the first performance of each play. Front Matter....Pages 1-8 Plays Within Plays: Stoppard on Hamlet and Waiting for Godot....Pages 9-17 Wheels within Wheels: the Plot as Fate....Pages 17-20 George vs the Logical Positivists: Stoppard on Philosophy....Pages 21-28 Literary-dramatic Pastiche: the Plot as a Game....Pages 28-42 Stoppard and the Critics....Pages 42-46 Love of Art and the Art of Love....Pages 46-55 Creating the World of the Play: Sets, Costumes and Effects....Pages 57-60 Styles of Acting: Actors on the Art of Being....Pages 60-72 The Prologue in Performance....Pages 73-83 Visual Aspects of Production....Pages 83-88 Acting and Characterisation....Pages 89-92 Playing with West End Conventions....Pages 92-94 Visual Aspects: Set and Props....Pages 94-102 Acting and Being: Text and Subtext....Pages 102-105 Back Matter....Pages 106-110