A TECHNICALLY WHIZZY VOYAGE ROUND A SCREEN LEGEND - THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, ROYAL COURT

A TECHNICALLY WHIZZY VOYAGE ROUND A SCREEN LEGEND - THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, ROYAL COURT

Still flushed with the irreverence, dash and daring of youth – or past-it and staggering onwards to meet its quietus? That brain-boxy Hamlet spin-off Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (which lifts a speculative curtain on the “backstage” travails of the two hapless pals of the Dane as they get embroiled in the intrigues of Elsinore and finally pay the price) has hit the big 5-0.

Tom Stoppard – who made his name with this meta-theatrical tragicomedy in 1967 (and has done really rather well for himself ever since) - was there to cheer it on last night at the Old Vic, scene of its first London triumph.