Last night, we had the pleasure of seeing the hobbits live in Halifax. But it wasn’t really the hobbits, it was Billy Boyd, AKA Pippin, and Dominic Monaghan, AKA Merry, starring in Neptune Theatre’s production of Tom Stoppard’s play, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. And what a treat it was to see these seasoned actors in our small-city theatre.
The play was a comedy. There were times when we laughed out loud. The play was a tragedy. So also times when we felt their misfortune. It was billed, appropriately so, as a tragicomedy. The play was amazing. Boyd and Monaghan were, of course, the main characters accompanied by a strong supporting cast of accomplished and talented Canadian actors. It was three hours, that did not feel like three hours, of impressive performances on all levels.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are very minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, they spend their time trying to fill their free time, as they have so much of it, while waiting for their interactions with other characters in Hamlet. They wonder about their actual purpose and how they are to carry out their directions. They ask a lot of meaningful, and meaningless, questions. Through them, existentialism, of the lack of it, plays a big part.
I couldn’t help but wonder how a small theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was able to afford to attract two actors such as Boyd and Monaghan to perform. The answer was apparent as soon as I read the program. It was a collaboration. When Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead finishes it February run in Halifax, This Neptune production heads for Toronto where Mirvish productions has given it a home for the Month of March.
All I can say to this is Bravo. Please do it again. Collaboration is such a good thing.
Thank you for reading.
Photo: Header – IMDB, Program – Neptune Theatre
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I can’t even remember the last time we saw live theater.
Glad you enjoyed it.
👍
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Halifax’s Neptune is a great live venue. We try to do dinner and the theatre a few times a year.
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What a fabulous opportunity to see a great play performed by seasoned actors. Like Rivergirl, I haven’t seen a live performance in a long time. I’d like to think that I would have made the effort to see this one.
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It was well worth it!
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Oh, do you think they’ll come to Sarnia :)
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Wouldn’t that be nice!
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Big fan of live theatre. One of my goals in retirement is to act in a minor theatre role.
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Hopefully you will achieve thar goal.
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It’s good that the show played in Halifax before heading off to Toronto. Speaking of Halifax: In 1969 a friend and I went on a road trip that took us into parts of Canada, including Halifax. In Halifax I saw the band Procol Harum. That’s my only memory of the city.
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Well at least you have one memory of Halifax. It has changed a lot since 1969.
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Sounds like a great night. I’m pretty sure I saw the movie a few years ago, but it would be great live.
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It was!
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Billy Boyd is a dead ringer for my dentist. Not that it matters, but I did a double take. Having shared that scintillating bit of trivia, I’m thrilled you got to see a live play. It’s been years since I’ve been to one.
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😂 That’s a wonderful bit of trivia.
Live plays are my favourite entertainment so we try to go a few times a year. It’s fairly reasonable, cost wise, to do that in our small city market.
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Very interesting idea for a play!
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The playwright also wrote the movie Shakespeare in love, which was a big hit a couple of decades ago.
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I heard of that but have never seen it
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