Austin Smith, Aaron Smith, and Abbey Zilka preform at a tech-rehearsal in anticipation for their play “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” produced by Torrey Theater Club. The show will be running from Nov. 18-20, 2011. | Ashley Jones/THE CHIMES

About 20 Biola students have been working diligently since the beginning of the semester in the Torrey Theater Club, rehearsing for a minimum of 12 hours each week. They are performing “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” for the Biola community from Nov. 18 to 20. Written in 1967 by Tom Stoppard, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” offers the story of “Hamlet” through the perspective of two witty plot devices, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Original plan to perform “The Diary of Anne Frank” fell through

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” was the right choice for this semester, said director Amanda Rountree, a senior and a fine arts major at Biola. However, the club originally planned to perform “The Diary of Anne Frank” this fall. The planning stages for “The Diary of Anne Frank” fell through, Rountree said. Both plays were under consideration as part of Biola’s Year of the Arts.

“It was God making circumstances happen so this play would occur, which I’m grateful for,” Rountree said.

Different talents utilized in production of play

Both plays were under consideration as part of Biola’s Year of the Arts.

“I love this sort of collaborative art, this cohesive vision for one thing,” Rountree said, describing the reason for her involvement in the Torrey Theater Club since the spring semester of 2010.

She says she has seen the club work “as a single unit of people who come together, have fun, and do good theater.”

Alongside Rountree, junior William Haggerty is involved as both the producer of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and as one of its main characters, Hamlet. A business major who has been involved in the Torrey Theater Club since his freshman spring semester, Haggerty enjoys the business side of production, which includes assembling and interacting with the crew, reserving rooms and advertising.

After college, Haggerty would like to use his degree and his theater experience to establish a school for disadvantaged children to use theater as a way of healing.

Perspective one of the themes in play

He hopes that the audience of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” can be entertained, but also find personal meaning in the play.

The play “contains a powerful message about the importance of perspective,” said Austin Smith, a sophomore English major who plays Rosencrantz. “‘Hamlet’ itself is a play of such meaning, and the great tragedy of ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,’ for me, is that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to see the big picture … As Christians, we are given such a grand story — the story of salvation — to be a part of, but if we are narrow and inwardly focused, our lives might begin to take the shape of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s,” he said.

Torrey Theater Club combines talent from all majors

After college, Austin Smith hopes to teach at a small school. He looks forward to working with a drama club in that capacity, and would draw from his experience in theater to do so.

Aaron Smith, a sophomore who plays Guildenstern, says that “Torrey Theater gives to students the opportunity to have complete creative control over productions of some of the greatest plays ever written … and the emphasis is always on ensemble work over individual work. We are a family.” As well as his role as Guildenstern, Smith is also the assistant director of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”

The Torrey Theater Club according to director Rountree, seeks to bring Biola students of different disciplines and ages together to work as a team and foster community. In doing this, members form one vision of a single play that they can share with the community.