Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - Old Vic

I had the email saying I could get 20% off in the bars in the O.V. after the show and to tell the truth, I just wanted to get out of there after the show, I had no interest in getting a discounted drink let alone getting Daniel Radcliffes autograph, but fair play to anyone who wants to meet him.

If you explain to whomever checks the tickets that he didn't sign anything this afternoon and you really want his autograph they'd probably let you in.

If you like both Beckett and Hamlet, it's entertaining. I do, and I enjoyed it.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Marwood's point about Daniel Radcliffe being underpowered is well-taken, though I feel differently about it. Having seen Samuel Barnett's take on the same role, where his smug conceited Rosencrantz constantly seemed to be laughing in Jamie Parker's Guildenstern's face, I appreciated the sheer serenity of Radcliffe, a wholly amenable companion for Joshua Maguire's budding Sherlock.

And Sherlock is how Maguire plays Guildenstern, in a version of Stoppard's play that could be titled "Sherlock and the Mystery of Life," where Maguire's Guildenstern is energetically, earnestly and enthusiastically questing for answers about everything in every scene. This puts Radcliffe in the role of a very staid and sturdy, but above all, serene Watson.

And of course, there is David Haig's Moriarty (aka The Player), stalking the stage like everyone's favourite mastercriminal, creating existential obfuscations and hurdles for Maguire's Sherlock to solve. Actually, Haig is more dashing than that, more along the lines of Mandy Patinkin's swashbuckler in "The Princess Bride:" I would have loved for Haig to declare "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"

With Haig and Maguire bringing charisma and wit by the bucketload, it's a blessed relief to have the good-natured Radliffe flopping about the stage like a puppy in search of a stroking. Indeed, Radcliffe is SO like a puppy that this show is like Herge's Adventures of Tintin, starring Maguire as Tintin, out for an existential schoolboy adventure, with Haig as arch-villian Rastapopoulos, and guest-starring Daniel Radcliffe as Snowy, man's (and Guildenstern's) best friend. Radcliffe brings a much-needed human/puppy warmth to a show which can otherwise fall prey to Stoppard's precise cold alienating cleverness.

Overall, I had fun with this show. Existential angst has never been so cosy.

4 stars.

****
The Guardian, The Stage, WhatsOnStage, The Times

4* also in The Telegraph and Evening Standard.

4* is absolutely right for this. Saw it on Monday and bloody loved it. Funny, engaging, witty and so wordy & dense! The two boys have such fabulous chemistry and really are a perfect double act with a stonking supporting performance from David Haig. Audience loved it, huge laughs and 95% standing ovation. But Act 1 is *so* long and Act 2 is *so* short, it's a little jarring! But a rather small complaint from a wonderful evening of theatre.

Suddenly travelling into London next weekend and would love to catch this. Now the choice is between 3 behind a pillar seats at £55 T6, V6 or T32. The last one is red on the theatremonkey website but does anyone know which if the 6 seats are the better choice?

First time seeing the play and indeed a Stoppard play. This is very enjoyable, with Maguire and Haig really excelling - Haig is particularly having a ball! I am also wondering if he's borrowed David Hyde Pierce's wig from La Bete - those theatre wigs are expensive. Radcliffe brings an innocence to Rosencrantz which is plays well off of Maguire's charisma. They make an effortless double act. Great to see the 50th anniversary production at the theatre where it first began (in London, anyway).

Saw this Saturday night, utterly smitten by David Haig, he was great! Enjoyed his performance a lot. Pretty good evening in all.

Lighting though - and this is on stage - at one point the spot on the top level went squiffy (can you tell I'm not technical); I noticed a beam of light hit the stage and kept moving, looked up saw someone up there holding it, looked up later and saw a guy changing a filter in the middle of a scene, not sure what was going on. Would have thought it very distracting if I'd been sitting up there.

I think Steve's take on this as an existential Sherlock Holmes and Watson double act is wonderfully accurate. It feels exactly like that, with the anxious and constantly questioning Guildenstern (Joshua McGuire) paired off with just what he needs, a bemused and contemplative and slightly withdrawn Rosencrantz (Daniel Radcliffe) who sees himself, as he says, "better in a supporting role". It's one of the great things about Stoppard's play that the two title characters who are supposed to be so indistinguishable that no one - not even themselves - can tell them apart are, in fact, so strikingly different.

Which is why it bothers me that comparisons are being unfairly made between McGuire and Radcliffe (to the detriment of Radcliffe) when the two actors are playing such very divergent roles. Both men are perfectly cast.  And I think it speaks volumes for the intelligence of Radcliffe that he has opted for the less showy part - he knows very well what suits him.

I much preferred this duo to Jamie Parker and Samuel Barnett in the Trevor Nunn production at the Haymarket back in 2011, but then I think David Leveaux's production as a whole is better than Nunn's. It's far more energetic and inventive - especially with the troupe of Players. With all its wordplay and flamboyant cleverness it's a piece that can quickly wear out its welcome, but not so here. The pace never flags, it's genuinely funny and always profoundly entertaining. Leveaux is simply good with Stoppard. One thinks back to his productions of Arcadia and Jumpers, both unmatchable.

The Old Vic was packed, the audience responsive. All in all an exceptionally fine revival.

Liked it. Haig for best supporting Olivier?

And further tweet:Tickets go on sale at 12 NOON TODAY. Our website will be really busy so be quick and please bring your patience. Tickets start at £12.

Or save your pennies for Jack Thorne's Woyzeck.