Waldron performance of Stoppard play amusing

Operating on two levels, are we?"\nThat line, taken from the script of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," would be a good question to ask playwright Tom Stoppard. The Waldron Arts Center production of the 1966 play tried to make sense of the plight of "Hamlet's" minor characters and the various levels of meaning on which the characters work.\nRosencrantz (played by Steve Heise) and Guildenstern (played by Joe Gaines) are victims of fate. They are not capable of making their own decisions, and even when they decide to do something, they reconsider until their only action is inaction. The two affable but idiotic characters spend the entire play waiting for something to happen, which ends up being much funnier than it sounds. \nHeise does well as the absurdly silly and carefree Rosencrantz, playing every confused expression and happy-go-lucky comment to the hilt. Gaines' Guildenstern is more logical and intellectual but still doesn't have a clue about anything. His musings require perfect comedic timing to obtain the desired effect, and Gaines hits almost every remark.\nBut in the acting category, The Player, Mark McIntire, steals the show. McIntire's knowing smirks and winks to the audience are evident in every line, adding a new dimension to the character's knowledge of the two errand boys' fate. \nHamlet, played by Daniel Petrie, looks and acts just as Hamlet should, with an odd resemblance in manner and appearance to Kenneth Branagh. Coincidence? I think not. The rest of the cast runs the gamut of acting ability from competent to mediocre, but none of them are onstage long enough to be memorable. \nThe play itself is the important thing here. Community theater depends almost wholly on the material it's given. With Stoppard's existential quandry of a play, the Waldron Arts Center and Detour Productions have a hit on their hands, provided the audience has read Shakespeare's masterpiece. Otherwise, it might be a bit confusing -- even with a synopsis provided.