Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – Assembly Roxy Upstairs

Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a play that wears its cleverness cheerfully on its sleeve and occasionally waves it about like a philosophical flag. Absurd, witty and quietly unnerving, it takes two minor characters from Hamlet and places them centre stage in a universe where the rules of narrative appear only partially understood. For any company, let alone one mounting its very first production, it is a formidable undertaking. Yet Gutter Theatre of Edinburgh, present the play at The Roxy Upstairs, approach the challenge with a pleasing mixture of ambition and good humour.

The play famously opens with a coin tossing sequence in which probability appears to abandon the building entirely. From that moment onward Stoppard’s world of existential confusion takes hold. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern wander through the margins of Shakespeare’s tragedy, dimly aware that something significant is unfolding around them, yet never quite able to grasp it. Guildenstern at one point reflects, “There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said, no.” The line captures the play’s curious balance of comedy and philosophical unease.

The production is anchored by two very strong central performances. Callum Porteous as Rosencrantz delivers an impressively naturalistic interpretation, one that feels both relaxed and refreshingly unforced. Stoppard’s dialogue can tempt actors toward overstatement, but Porteous wisely resists that temptation, finding humour in simplicity and timing rather than theatrical flourish. For an opening night performance, and in such a textually demanding play, the level of assurance is striking.

Opposite him, Shaun Hamilton as Guildenstern provides an excellent counterweight, leaning more fully into the character’s anxious attempts to impose logic on a thoroughly illogical universe. The interplay between the two works extremely well. Together they create the sense of two young men who suspect they have wandered into the wrong play entirely yet cannot quite locate the exit.

The supporting cast also make a strong impression. Amelie Berry as the Player delivers a particularly confident, swashbuckling performance, combining theatrical authority with a sly hint of menace. When the Player observes that audiences are perfectly comfortable with staged death, it is, after all, what actors do best, the line lands with a knowing flourish that neatly captures the play’s theatrical self-awareness.

Elsewhere the company handles the various smaller appearances from Shakespeare’s court with clarity and enthusiasm. Cameron Broadley’s Hamlet is ethereal, other-worldly and mad, obviously, alongside the occasionally show-stealing grumbling and muttering Anna Yarwood as Polonius. Robbie Morris as Claudius and Mimi Chibah as Gertrude, provide glimpses of the familiar Shakespearean machinery grinding away somewhere just off stage. Members of the travelling players, including Ben Black, Andrew More, Marni Robertson, Bella Robbo and Rae Webb, add energy and welcome theatrical colour.

Talking of colour, the Costume design brings welcome splashes of bling and flamboyance but felt improvised and uncoordinated, veering towards the New Romantic, but confusingly combining banker pinstripe with Pirate scruff, accessorised with flashy jewellery and waistcoats.   

If the performances are strong, the technical side occasionally proves more troublesome. There was noticeable glare from the side lighting which at times distracted from the action. A little more forethought in the positioning or shielding of those lights, the judicious use of barn doors for example would easily have resolved the issues. Likewise, the use of projection onto the multi layered set simply didn’t work, the messages held within fractured and distorted and unreadable.

That said, The Roxy Upstairs is a venue well known within Edinburgh’s amateur and fringe theatre circuit, and its limitations are hardly a secret to anyone who has spent time in the city’s performance spaces. Within those constraints the production achieved a commendable amount on a clearly limited budget.

For a first outing from a new company, choosing a play as linguistically playful and structurally mischievous (and long!) as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is either brave or slightly mad, possibly both. In this case it paid off. Anchored by excellent performances from its two leads and an especially memorable turn from the Player, Gutter Theatre delivered an engaging and frequently impressive evening of theatre. With a little technical polish, and the same evident enthusiasm, this is a company that Edinburgh audiences should look out for in the future.

Till Saturday 7^th March 2026.

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 4^th March 2026

North West End UK Rating:

Running time – 2hr 30mins (with 2 intervals)