ᴀᴄᴛ ᴏɴᴇ

 

                29 - 34

╓═══════☆═══════╖

          Short Summary

╙═══════☆═══════╜

flip a coin

troupe arrives on scene

Player tries to lure Ros and Guil into paying for performance

scene from Hamlet commences

Ros and Guil play a game of questions

Hamlet arrives and greets old friends

╓═══════☆═══════╖

          Detailed Review

╙═══════☆═══════╜

flipping coins tedious form of entertainment, desire to produce

feeling of boredom to audience

reactions distinguish Ros and Guil

Guil: full of speculation, more concerned with science than 

theology

infinite monkey theorem - monkey + typewriter + infinite time

= shakespeare

Ros: matter of fact, thought it was new record, admits he is 

afraid

Guil lose coin with every head up toss

philosophical inquiries go beyond Ros' comprehension

exam memories of past

first thing they remember is messenger

Guil: "I have no desires. None."

signal that Ros and Guil not humans, but characters

Guil concludes summon from messenger began process of 

series of heads

Ros' non sequitur response to Guil's impassioned speech

Abbot and Costello - Who's on First routine

supernatural suspension of the real for stage characters

Ros adds dramatic flair to first memory

characters confused about why they're in Hamlet

Ros believes he hears music

Guil produce hypothetical theory about illusory unicorn, who is

actually a horse with an arrow in its head

tragedians appear

Player is mouthpiece for Shakespeare, who is frequently meta

theatrical in his plays

representation of Stoppard, cynical and critical of conventional

theater

sentiments of Father in Pirandello's Six Characters or Producer

type used by Stoppard in comedy to transmit notions about drama

theater, representation, tragedy, reality

Player is swarmy and opportunistic showman, con artist

two senses of the word "decadence" 

term denotes hedonism, self indulgence, sexal promiscuity

mirrors Ros and Guil's lack of memory

Ros introduces himself as Guil

Player says his troupe can perform sexual misadventures

flagrante delicto 

offer youthful actor Alfred

Ros and Guil offended

Player tells Alfred to put skirt on, Guil punches him

Guil attempts to summon unexpected to shake up predictability

exchange between protagonist and Player like vaudeville skit

Guil propose gambling

bet whether birth year doubled is an even number

Player takes bet, loses

confessed he ahs no money, offer Alfred again

Guil ask they perform a play, mention Greek drama

ask Player if he's gonna change into costume

Player is always on costume and always on stage

preceding emergence into Hamlet, there is a tail toss

simultaneously playing in Hamlet and Ros and Guil

onstage, offstage Hamlet

Another rehearsal of first memory

remind Ros they have narrow range of operation

Ros fret about feeling stranded in no man's land, judgement

from others

claim Guil make him look ridiculous

Guil's response, echo of Beckett, scripture of prayer deformed

in character's speech

formula from The Lord's Prayer"

Ros's uncertainty about direction both spatial and temporal

Guil try not to lose his composure

resolve a serious of effective questions needed to investigate

Hamlet

rapid fire linguistic game, points deducted for non questions

echo Beckett again, with play on sacred

game of questions goes on for several pages

"who do you think you are" "when is it going to end?"

Ros uncertain about own identity, answers to both names

practice for interrogation with Guil as Hamlet

Ros keeps on forgetting his part

Hamlet greet Ros by Guil's name