Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (play)

Not to be confused with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, A Tragic Episode, in Three Tabloids is a short burlesque play by W. S. Gilbert that parodies William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The main characters in Gilbert's piece are King Claudius and Queen Gertrude of Denmark, their son Prince Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Ophelia. King Claudius reveals a dark secret: long ago he wrote a tragedy so bad that he has banned it from not only performance but all mention in the kingdom. Rosencrantz and Ophelia are in love and rid themselves of Hamlet and his annoying tendency to soliloquy by persuading him to present the tragedy; he is banished, and Rosencrantz and Ophelia marry.

After failing to find a producer for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and shortly after Henry Irving's hit production of Hamlet opened in London in 1874, Gilbert first published the play in the humour magazine Fun. The first performance of the burlesque in London's West End was not until June 1891, a benefit matinée at the Vaudeville Theatre. The play finally ran at the Court Theatre from 27 April 1892 to 15 July, about 77 performances, featuring Decima Moore as Ophelia, Brandon Thomas as Claudius, Gertrude Kingston as Gertrude and Weedon Grossmith as Hamlet.

An amateur performance in 1900 featured P. G. Wodehouse as Guildenstern. It played in New York City at the Murray Hill Theatre in 1900. A charity performance in 1902 featured Gilbert as Claudius, with Nancy McIntosh as Gertrude. Gilbert again played Claudius at charity performances in 1904 at the Garrick Theatre, which also featured prominent playwrights of the day; in 1906, again with Gertrude Kingston as the Queen; and in 1908 at the Lyceum Theatre, starring Marion Terry as Gertrude.

A televised performance of the play was given in 1938 with Grahame Clifford as Claudius, Erik Chitty as Guildenstern and Leonard Sachs as Rosencrantz. Other amateur performances were given during the 1890s, and both amateur and professional productions have been given in the 20th century and since. The play has been described as "the best [Shakespeare burlesque] from a literary point of view".

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