The set designs of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead “…a poor player, who struts and frets during his hour on stage, then is heard no more…” This quote from Macbeth is a perfect summary of the plot of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The dramatization of the lives of these two mundane characters, virtually foreign to Hamlet, provides an unlikely basis for “one of the most… engaging plays of the post-war period” (Daily Telegraph). However, as with Samuel Beckett's absurdist play "Waiting for Godot", the originality of Stoppard's concept alone is not enough to create a masterpiece and it is the brilliance of the direction and of the writing which establishes this piece as a classic. the characters are an important feature of the setting. Neither Rosencrantz nor Guildenstern ever leaves the stage during the play until their deaths. They constitute the central point which directly contrasts with their relative insignificance in Hamlet. The visual effect of their Elizabethan attire is cleverly juxtaposed with their contemporary speaking style. It is comical that their identities seem interchangeable; Guildenstern himself explores this point in Act II,Guil: Rosencrantz…Ros: (distractedly) What?Pause, briefly.Guil: Guildenstern…Ros: (irritated by the repetition) What?Guil: You don't discriminate? While other characters such as Gertrude and Hamlet seem unsure of who is taking which name, the fact that they themselves are confused increases this humorous idea. How they act and what they do are both important factors in establishing their personality and Stoppard includes extensive stage directions. in the scenario. In Act II there is... middle of paper... they are just actors. At one point in Act I, Rosencrantz stands at the edge of the stage, looking out at the audience, and comments that the idea of ​​being a spectator could only be made bearable by the "irrational belief that someone interesting would arrive in a minute.” In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are boring characters. Whatever wit they possess has nothing to do with Hamlet's intelligence, they are incapable of spying properly for Claudius, and their contribution to the plot consists of two extra corpses and a few laughs at their costs. However, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tom Stoppard managed to make these characters interesting. The addition of the more three-dimensional character of the Player, several inventive uses of stagecraft, and imaginative connections to Hamlet himself establishes an original masterpiece of a play revolving around two minor Shakespearean characters..