as Claudius and Clare Corbett as Gertrude. A 1983 radio adaptation was broadcast on the BBC World Service on 17 October directed by Gordon House, with Nigel Anthony as Rosencrantz, Nicky Henson as Guildenstern, Jack May as The Player, John Duttine as Hamlet, Peter Vaughan as Claudius, Marcia Warren as Gertrude, Eileen Tully as Ophelia, Cyril Shaps as Polonius and Alex Jennings as a Tragedian. Film adaptation Film rights to the play were originally bought by MGM in 1968 for a reported $350,000 plus 10% of the profits. John Boorman was announced as director with Bob Chartoff and Irwin Winkler to produce. The film was not made, however. The play was eventually adapted for a film released in February 1990, with screenplay and direction by Stoppard. The motion picture is Stoppard's only film directing credit: "[I]t began to become clear that it might be a good idea if I did it myself—at least the director wouldn't have to keep wondering what the author meant. It just seemed that I'd be the only person who could treat the play with the necessary disrespect." The cast included Gary Oldman as Rosencrantz, Tim Roth as Guildenstern, Richard Dreyfuss as the Player, Joanna Roth as Ophelia, Ian Richardson as Polonius, Joanna Miles as Gertrude, Donald Sumpter as Claudius, and Iain Glen as Hamlet. Works Inspired by Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead A 2022 play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) is an irreverent and absurd one-act where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern realize they're characters in a meta-play written by Tom Stoppard. Subsequently he realizes that he's a character in a meta-meta-play written by Etai Shuchatowitz. The 2004 Disney direct-to-video film The Lion King 1½ shares many features of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, being a re-telling of the original 1994 film The Lion King (itself based largely on the plot of Hamlet) from the perspective of the characters Timon and Pumbaa and occasionally featuring major characters and plot points from the original film. References Further reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead / Rosencrantz et Guildenstern sont morts External links (archive) A Tom Stoppard Bibliography: Chronology at sondheimguide.com. 1966 books 1966 plays 1960s debut plays Existentialist plays Metafictional plays Tragicomedy plays New York Drama Critics' Circle Award winners Parallel literature British plays adapted into films Plays and musicals based on Hamlet Plays by Tom Stoppard Plays about actors Plays set in Denmark Tony