The Online Reflector

According to senior Stephanie Kucsera, few theaters offer the intimacy of the University of Indianapolis studio theatre, located in the basement of Esch Hall.

“When you’re sitting with the actors three feet away from your shoes, it pulls you into the story on a different kind of level,” she said. “I think the story becomes a bit more personal.”

The smaller setting of the studio will be used by the UIndy theatre department for its production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” Tom Stoppard’s look inside the actions of two minor characters from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

The play features the titular characters moving through their parts in “Hamlet” and questioning their actions and the point of their existence.

“Because this play is so much about theatre and theatricality, I think it’s fun to do it in the studio theatre, where the audience is literally wrapped around the action and the action penetrates into the audience as well,” said Brad Wright, associate professor of theatre and the production’s director.

While the subject matter can be very intellectual, Kucsera finds the comedic tone important.

“I think that dichotomy is kind of interesting because it does raise some huge concepts about identity, free will, how much control you have over your situation and choices, how you define yourself,” Kucsera said. “It does ask those big questions, but I do like that it is set in this intimate space, because it brings the immediacy home to the audience.”

The comedic tone is derived from the interaction between Rosencrantz, portrayed by junior Chelsey Wood, and Guildenstern, portrayed by Kucsera.

“Guildenstern is all about thinking through problems, and he wants to talk about it, and it all has to intellectually make sense; whereas Rosencrantz is much more driven by his emotions and he feels things,” Kucsera said.

The character of Guildenstern is a departure from roles Kucsera often portrays.

“He’s a lot of fun because he’s not a warm, fluffy, cuddly kind of character, which I’ve done some of,” Kucsera said. “It’s kind of cool to not only be playing a man but also someone with a personality like that.”

Wood and Kucsera feels the roles fit their friendship offstage as well.

“There’s times when we’re not even sure we’re playing the characters, because we fit the roles so well,” Wood said. “It kind of takes the hurdles aside and lets us focus on the intellectual aspects rather than the relational.”

The casting of two females as the lead male roles grew out of a scene that Wood directed for a drama class.

“That’s an aspect of the show, but we’re not trying to comment about gender roles,” Wood said. “I think it’s interesting because it says more about the character fitting into the world, rather than a man or a woman fitting in.”

Wright found gender reversal in casting an additional dimension to the play.

“There are multiple levels in this play, and we’ve been using the word ‘duality’ a lot,” Wright said. “By casting women in those roles, I think it opens up a whole lot of interesting issues. In Shakespeare’s day, women weren’t allowed to be on stage.”

Wright also acknowledged that a goal of the production is to build theatricality. Female and male actors alike will don false beards and moustaches for the piece. The costumes also are accurate for the Renaissance period.

“Just even having those clothes on affects your posture and carriage,” Kucsera said, who finds male physicality a challenging aspect of the characters.

While the play is set against the backdrop of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Wood doesn’t believe intimate knowledge of the piece is a necessity for the audience.

“If you have no idea what happens in ‘Hamlet,’ I think you can still appreciate the play,” Wood said. “I do, however, think you’ll appreciate more of the play if you’re familiar with it.”

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” will run Dec. 3-5 and Dec. 9-11.