Messrs. R. and G.
T can scarcely be imagined that a programme of interest could be devoted solely to a couple of minor characters in a drama such as Hamlet. But in ther BBC series Shakespeare’s Characters, } Herbert Farjeon’ chose as his them?" those two gentlemen Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I have probably read Hamlet half-a-dozen times and seen it two or three, and it is possible that I am not the only listener who has de-. parted from such performances with only the vaguest notion about Messrs. R. and G. An average audience may wonder, perhaps, how Shakespeare invented two such names, but may take (continued on next page)
Y Boleunl notes ere not written by the staff of "The Listener’ or by any member of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service. They are independent comments for which "The Listener" pays outside contributors.
be) (continued. from previous page) the characters at Hamlet’s own valuation as a couple of deep-dyed traitors, and would probably dismiss them anyhow as two minor characters of a play containing so many more iteresting people. In this BBC production, however, they emerged without a stain on their joint character-thanks to a detailed investigation by the arranger, who found them guilty of nothing more than a pronounced lack of intelligence, and scarcely deserving the horrid end plotted for them by the Prince himself. "Let us hope," the production concluded, "that they died like gentlemen (like first and second gentlemen), and that they drew their last breath, as they would no doubt have wished, simultaneously." This. programme, and similar ones, may well serve as a reminder to the desultory dipper into Shakespeare that here is one poet who can’t be read without concentration. Shakespeare’ in this respect resembles the great composers; you can appreciate their work without really understanding it, but the real greatness is only revealed to the student whois willing to approach the subject with intelligence as well as emotion.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 430, 19 September 1947, Page 8
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323Messrs. R. and G. New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 430, 19 September 1947, Page 8
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