Dubai Drama Group's latest Shakespearean venture looks at Hamlet from a different perspective, in the comedy Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead. The play, staged at DUCTAC, features much philosophical musing on fate and luck, making humorous references to the minor roles, disposability, and near-anonymity of the titular characters.
Toby Masson and Ciaran Mulhern have great chemistry as the reluctantly duplicitous duo, Rosencratz and Guildenstern, respectively (or vice versa), bumbling their way about the Hamlet universe while the more well-known dramatic events take place around them, and pondering what it all means.
Some of my favorite moments in the play were those featuring Eric Dury as the head tragedian --- a character to which he is very suited. The play is also commendable for the attention paid to detail in production, most evidently in the costumes.
I checked out the five-day Year Zero exhibition in its final hours last week. The collaborative project, on display at the Gallery of Light in DUCTAC, was composed of the works of Prof. Dina Faour, Dr. Sandra Alexander, and Dr. Jerry Legé -- all American University in Dubai faculty, and each representing artistic, philosophical and mathematical dimensions to this visual discussion of remembrance and reconciliation. I especially like the photo series placing words and images in the context of past conflict. The twin chalkboard piece, on which philosophical/mathematical analyses of 0 were jotted, was also very interesting.
