Now Guildenstern starts talking. Rosencrantz has taken the lead on chats with Hamlet up until this point and suddenly, here, Guildenstern steps up. What happened?
Is there something about the king’s choler or the Queen’s concern that has activated Guildenstern? Or have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had a conversation and somehow shifted their dynamic?
If I were directing this play or playing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, I would want to work this out. Why the change in behavior between these two? Why has the less verbal, more taciturn of the two suddenly stepped up to take the lead? And does Hamlet notice the switch? What does he make of it?
Do they think that Guildenstern will have more luck? Are they thinking that he’s the more diplomatic of the two? That Rosencrantz has made no progress so maybe they should switch up their good cop/bad cop dynamic?
There’s a lot to be considered.
The Hamlet Project 