A film by Sir Tom Stoppard, British playwright and screenwriter was screened at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on March 2, coinciding with the ‘Night of Stoppard’ ceremony.
A 1990 comedy-drama film, ‘Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead’ is based on his play by the same name, IRNA reported.
The film depicts two minor characters from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the king of Denmark. They encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.
Organized by ‘Nila’ publishing house, the ceremony also introduced the playwright and several of his works, with special focus on ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ (1968) and ‘Travesties’ (1975), of which the Persian translations have been published by ‘Nila’.
Stoppard has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
He co-wrote the screenplays for ‘Brazil’, ‘The Russia House’, and ‘Shakespeare in Love’, and has received one Academy Award and four Tony Awards. Themes of human rights, censorship and political freedom pervade his work along with exploration of linguistics and philosophy.
