The second act makes use of some of Shakespeare’s original lines in Hamlet, with which it soon becomes obvious Stoppard’s play is dovetailing. The main setting is Denmark. Includes four important essays on the play and an especially valuable interview with Stoppard. Today: After decades of resistance from the white minority, apartheid is overthrown in South Africa in 1996 when the former political prisoner Nelson Mandela is elected president in a free election and a new national constitution brings a non-racial democracy to the country. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are discussing and questioning "what is real." Left to themselves, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern confess that they are baffled and frightened by the scene in which they find themselves, having as they do no recollection of anything prior to that day. Though not considered major plays in the Stoppard canon, these works clearly demonstrated Stoppard's capacity for engaging contemporary social and political issues. But at one point all the traveling players emerge from one of the barrels, and at the end of the play it is clear that the setting is, magically, not a ship but the Danish court. . Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead weaves a subtle joke with remarkable wisdom that doesn't jump out and knock the viewer over. Instead of morally dethroning Hamlet, Stoppard brings two minor characters to the foreground, allowing him to address issues relevant to his contemporary postmodern audience while simultaneously minimizing the dominance of Shakespearian tradition. They are welcomed by King Claudius and Queen Gertrude, who ask them to speak with their longtime friend, Hamlet, the Queen’s son, and undertake to discover what has caused the marked change in his behavior. Do you mean when they discuss the reality of death? There is thus in Stoppard's play a kind of comic victory for the underdog, perhaps most clearly expressed at the beginning of Act II when Rosencrantz responds to Hamlet's esoteric Shakespearean language by saying, "half of what he said meant something else, and the other half didn't mean anything at all." When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead appeared in 1966, its possible connections to the Theatre of the Absurd were seen immediately, in part because of Stoppard's conscious echoing of Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot. Each time a coin lands on heads, Rosencrantz wins it. Word Count: 379. Tom Stoppard. And it is Stoppard's dexterity with the English language in addition to his acute philosophical lens that allows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to be more than a modern rendition of Hamlet, but also a work of art that lives and breathes on its own. Bareham, T., editor, Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties: a Casebook, Macmillan, 1990. Tom Stoppard's modern stage classic finds a pair of film actors worthy of its verbal japery and existential bewilderment: Gary Oldman and Tim Roth are deliciously locked in as the title characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Generations of readers and theatre-goers who have silently struggled at times to understand the demanding dialogue of "the world's greatest playwright and the world's greatest play'' chuckle as the ordinary man speaks up. Ros and Guildenstern (Guil) are betting on the flip of the coin. However, Stoppard never makes the location clear (just as Shakespeare, with minimal stage directions, never makes his locations clear for Hamlet). An ambassador from England enters and tells Horatio that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, and Horatio begins his final speech as “the play fades out, overtaken by darkness and music.”, Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Stoppard’s interweaving of Hamlet’s plot with his own is also skillful and effective, combining classic theater with modern as Shakespeare’s dialogue is intercut with his own and phrases from Hamlet recur in lines delivered by Stoppard’s characters. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. These and other playwrights rejected the concept of a rational and ordered universe and tended to see human life as absurd and lacking purpose. They're dead! Further Reading As The Player explains, “It costs little to watch, and little more if you happen to get caught up in the action, if that’s your taste and times being what they are.” Guildenstern is struck with a sense of foreboding by the idea of getting caught up in the action and implies that the actors are heralds of his own death. The... Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead study guide contains a biography of Tom Stoppard, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The actors act out the final scenes from Hamlet—the poisonings, duels and deaths of the principal characters—and the lights dim around them until only Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are visible. Rosencrantz is upset and Guildenstern tries to comfort him, both of them jumbling their words: "it's all stopping to a death, it's boding to a depth, stepping to a head, it's all heading to a dead stop," Rosencrantz exclaims, longing for the time in which there were no questions, when he remembered his name, and answers abounded. Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. Though certainly working in the context of the absurdist theatre movement of the 1950s and early 1960s, Stoppard's first major drama must not be too easily subsumed under its heading. Tom Stoppard’s stage directions for act 1 describe the scene as “Two Elizabethans passing the time in a place without any visible character.” The location seems to be a featureless place, neither indoors nor out, where the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discourse and toss coins. Word Count: 440. The ambassadors count the bodies, name them, and then conclude there are eight deaths in all. That would be false. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Danish courtiers whom … Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead weaves a subtle joke with remarkable wisdom that doesn't jump out and knock the viewer over. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two elizabethan courtiers from Shakespeare's Hamlet, struggle to come to terms with their relationship to the script that controls them and their existence, in this adaptation of sir Tom Stoppard's meta theatrical play. Perlette, John M., "Theatre at the Limit: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in Modem Drama, Vol. This impression finds its culmination in Act III, when Hamlet is discovered lounging under a gaudily striped umbrella, reduced to something not quite classically Shakespearean. However, Stoppard invokes fast-paced comedy and theatricality that cut through Beckett's grave atmosphere. Sounds of sailors rise and it becomes clear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on a boat. The play suggests through them the confusion and isolation of life, a view that Stoppard shares with many of his contemporaries, including playwright Harold Pinter. Again they act out the encounter, open the new letter and see to their dismay that it now asks the king to kill them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead actively engages with Shakespeare’s Hamlet through quotation and visual cues. Guildenstern wonders if they have entered a … Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead focuses on two minor characters from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (pr. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1979. Guildenstern, on the other hand, recognizes early that something is amiss in their particular universe and makes repeated attempts— which Rosencrantz neatly sidesteps—to draw his companion’s attention to the fact. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Many contemporary productions of Hamlet have updated the play by changing superficial markers of time such as setting, costume, and vernacular. Every Good Boy Deserves Favor is set in a Russian prison hospital where one of the inmates is imprisoned for his political beliefs. It is as if their ordinary, prosaic quality begins to acquire a nobility of its own, and in contrast the Shakespearean characters eventually begin to sound exaggerated, even a little silly. New York: Grove Press, 1982. Word Count: 324. As the most famous tragedy of the most respected playwright in the history of the world, Hamlet conjures up an image of high seriousness, but when we meet Stoppard's courtiers at the beginning of his play they are casually flipping coins and speaking in colloquial, informal prose rather than Shakespearean verse. 1966: After 8 years in power, South Africa's prime minister Henrik F. Verwoerd is assassinated on September 6 and succeeded a week later by Balthazar Johannes Vorster, who vows to continue the policies of apartheid (pronounced "ah-par-tate," it is a system of racial segregation and white dominance) in South Africa. An appreciation for Shakespeare and theatre is helpful. In America, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded by Betty Friedan to gain equal rights for women, and the civil rights movement for American blacks was spurring race riots in Cleveland, Chicago, and Atlanta. The two soon realize, however, that the “services” to which their spokesman, The Player, refers are sexual rather than theatrical. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn that Hamlet has indeed slain Polonius, and they are ordered by Claudius to take him to England along with a letter for the English King. Stoppard: The Mystery and the Clockwork. The turn towards working-class themes in British theatre began with John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956). Even more curious than the first two acts, this act is apparently set on a ship at sea—an inference the audience draws from the sound effects suggested by Stoppard, such as “soft sea sounds” and “ship timbers, wind in the rigging.” There are three large barrels on the deck (sufficient to hold one or two actors), and a few steps lead to an upper deck. A very readable critical study that includes a short chapter on Stoppard's first major play and a valuable interview with the author. Is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead a tragedy or a comedy or something in between? Their reactions to the situation in which they find themselves are both varied and utterly human: They fear the worst, deny its existence, rationalize its mysteries, and distract themselves with details from its reality. A thorough, book-length analysis of the play that effectively summarizes and comments on the action of both Stoppard's and Shakespeare's plays before setting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead into the context of Stoppard's other work and Beckett's Waiting for Godot. A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking … An excellent place to start for an overview of interpretations of the play. Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. Word Count: 543. Metafictional Characters in Modern Drama. Although they seem at times interchangeable, and one of the play’s frequent sources of humor lies in the constant confusion of their names, there are subtle differences between the two. An appreciation for Shakespeare and theatre is helpful. Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is often cited as a source from which Stoppard draws much philosophical influence. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Today: Russia has become much less powerful politically, economically, and militarily as various regions within the former Soviet empire assert their independence and Russia suffers major economic setbacks. And for many years after his initial success, Stoppard seemed to write from a steadfastly apolitical point of view, claiming, perhaps puckishly, that "I must stop compromising my plays with this whiff of social application. As the coin is called "heads" or "tails," the winner places the coin in his sack. Both plays focus on the absurdity of the human condition as two protagonists find themselves passing time, talking, or playing games until the "action" resumes. Thematic interpretations of Stoppard’s work, with an interesting discussion of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead that explores their plight as a game where the rules are not understood by all the players. The average credit card debt per household has risen from $649 in 1970 to nearly $4,000 in 1996. The Theatre of the Absurd arose after World War II and flourished in the 1950s and early 1960s, initially and especially in France in the works of Eugene Ionesco (E-on-S'-co), Jean Genet (Shuh-nay'), and Samuel Beckett. True or False? Download file to see previous pages Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in Hamlet and their identities are not well developed. The year 1966, like rest of the mid-1960s, was extremely turbulent both socially and politically. The most significant change was the ending. They reflect that it is "dark for day" but write it off to the assumption that they've sailed north. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1990) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) imagines Shakespeare's Hamlet from the perspective of two minor courtiers. Corballis, Richard. I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for here. Night and Day (1978) takes place in a fictionalized African country and examines the role of the press in a dictatorial third-world country while Cahoot's Macbeth (1979) concerns the repression of theatre in Czechoslovakia. What is the major dramatic question in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead? Comedy Apparent setting for act 3. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) imagines Shakespeare's Hamlet from the perspective of two minor courtiers. Through the rise in two-income families and the extensive development of day-care facilities, women have taken a dramatically increased role in the work force, moving from domestic positions into direct competition with men, though female salaries are statistically lower. They interrupt an ongoing play and demand that the director stage their play. 1966: The American Civil Rights Movement is backed by the wide-sweeping 1964 Civil Rights Act, aspects of which are contested in a number of southern states that resist school integration. Today: African Americans enjoy far greater economic, social, and political mobility, and school integration is commonplace in America. They must be entirely untouched by any suspicion of usefulness. The following morning, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern discover the actors hiding in barrels on the ship. Realizing that they are powerless to alter the course of their destiny, which has been predetermined by the action of the play, they resign themselves to their fate. Londre, Felicia Hardison, Tom Stoppard, Frederick Ungar, 1981. Not affiliated with Harvard College. While Shakespeare's play has many moments of rich humor, it is basically serious and tragic, while Stoppard's treatment of the Shakespearean story is distinctly comic, even farcical. Why Guildenstern feels indignant on the player? Once again, they prepare themselves by acting out their meeting with the King of England. At length it becomes clear that this is an outdoor location close to the castle of Elsinore, because the traveling players approach them en route to the castle. The Player offers him the troupe’s young boy, Alfred, for his pleasure, but Guildenstern demands an actual play; the actors are preparing to comply when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find themselves suddenly transported to Elsinore. As toss after toss comes up heads, Guildenstern concludes that the law of probability is no longer in effect and speculates with some anxiety on what the cause of this strange phenomenon may be. With his buddy's trousers comically gathered at his ankles and facing another complete failure, Guildenstern says quite simply, "there's a limit to what two people can do.". Like Prufrock, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are "easy tool[s]" in a highly orchestrated plot in which they are insignificant "attendants."   Â. Stoppard's parody is distinctive because it is generally quite respectful and affectionate toward its source rather than critical. Tom Stoppard's play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" is the most famous modern example of a tour de force in which the action in "Hamlet" is viewed through the eyes of two of the bit players, Hamlet's college friends, who accompany him on his trip to England. But in a flurry of plays in the late 1970s, starting with Every Good Boy Deserves Favor (1977), Stoppard silenced these critics by writing several plays dealing explicitly with political issues and themes. The act ends with the pair on their way to England, still baffled by the course of events they seem powerless to resist. Act 3 opens on board a ship bound for England. Summary Absurdism Themes References Menu Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Summary [10] A plot similar to Hamlet, but a meaning very different The play begins with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern absent-mindedly flipping a coin while journeying through they forest. c.1600-1601) and presents their dilemma at finding themselves trapped in a series of dramatic events over which they have no control. Contains interviews with Stoppard, general assessments of his work, reviews of early productions, and excerpts from critical studies. Part of a useful series that focuses on the performance aspects of plays. The pair quickly realize Hamlet’s situation—his father dead, his mother remarried to his uncle, and his own position as heir to the throne usurped by that same uncle— and resolve to uncover his true feelings through careful questioning. The play features a family who is left incomplete by their author. Tom Stoppard's critically acclaimed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead offered alternative anti-heroes. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Beckett's play begins on a country road that is distinctly non-descript, so when Stoppard specifies in his opening stage directions that "two Elizabethans [are] passing the time in a place without any visible character" it is sufficient to recall Waiting for Godot for those who are very familiar with the Beckett classic. "Play" in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. As an actor, he belongs by rights in the play and experiences no unease over his situation, noting “I’ve been here before.” So have they all—each time Hamlet is performed—but only the professional actor has been granted an apparent awareness of that fact. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Stoppard is also influenced by T.S. With this discovery, the conversation turns to... Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel that during their conversation with Hamlet, they were assertive and able to win Hamlet's trust. But in 1966 and 1967, many critics saw Stoppard as a late example of this absurdist movement, with Charles Marowitz asserting in May of 1967 that Stoppard's play eventually became "a blinding metaphor about the absurdity of life.". Ronald Bryden's glowing review caught the attention of professional companies. Today: BankAmericard has become Visa, Master Charge has become MasterCard, and the credit card has become a way of life world-wide. . Additionally, serious scenes from Hamlet become comical in the light of the audience’s prior knowledge of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s utter lack of comprehension regarding how they came to be where they are and what they are to do now that they have arrived. In Stoppard's revision, the characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are not fully developed in the original play, fumble around bewildered … If anything it ennobles both, paying respects to Beckett's genius, as in an "homage," and dignifying the silliness of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When Tom Stoppard produced Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, England was dealing with the aftermath of WWII and colonization, causing the public to question authority, challenge precedent, and debunk mythologies associated with power and prestige. Act 2, which is interwoven with brief scenes from Hamlet, begins as the pair conclude their conversation with the Prince, the actual scene from Shakespeare’s play presumably having occurred in the interim. In the second edition, Stoppard uses Shakespeare's words instead of his own to end the play with the final speeches from the ambassador and Horatio announcing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Already a member? A Play Within a Play: Metatheatrical Distinctions Between Actor and Character in Shakespeare and Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: A Quest for Meaning, View our essays for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead…, Introduction to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Bibliography, View the lesson plan for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead…, View Wikipedia Entries for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead…. Word Count: 922. Word Count: 525. ", As a result, the work following Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead—including such plays as The Real Inspector Hound (1968), Jumpers (1972), and Travesties (1974)—seemed to a number of critics to lack political and social awareness. While extremely entertaining, this play packs a surprising amount of highly intellectual Word Count: 903. You’re nobody special. Guildenstern is flipping coins and keeps getting heads as Rosencrantz bets on it. The play's central character, Jimmy Porter, became the model for the working-class anti-hero that would pervade British theater for the next decade, confronting head-on the oppressive dominance of history, tradition, and convention. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Hayman, Ronald, Contemporary Playwrights: Tom Stoppard, Heinemann, 1977. As the two engage in exchanges marked by witty and elaborate wordplay, it becomes apparent that neither can remember an existence prior to their awakening earlier that day, when a messenger from King Claudius summoned them to Elsinore. "There were always questions," Guildenstern retorts, "To exchange … The ambassador announces that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, and Horatio makes his final speech. Stoppard CBE is a British screenwriter and playwright, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead launched his career. Berkow, Jordan ed. First performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966, this tragicomedy tells Hamlet’s story from the perspective of two minor characters from Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy. In Stoppard's play, the stage itself becomes symbolic of the human condition. Shakespeare capitalises on opportunities to comment on the nature of drama and actors when he has the Hamlet advise the players on how to say their lines. However, Stoppard revises the play from the inside out, changing the very nature of the characters to reflect the current postmodern dilemma. What makes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead a satire? To express this vision effectively, these dramatists tended to eliminate reassuring dramatic elements like logical plot development, realistic characterization, and rational dialogue, replacing them with bizarre qualities that forced audiences to experience absurdity first hand. Stoppard includes many of Hamlet ’s most notable scenes in a … Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary. As Hamlet leaves with Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern admit that their plan to question him has failed miserably and they are as puzzled as ever by their dilemma. Uncertainty is one of the themes of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The coin has landed on heads over seventy-six times in a row, and Rosencrantz has won every time. Like wine it is an acquired taste with complex flavors. . The Turbulent Sixties and Stoppard as a Political Playwright The Player also serves as an occasional counselor and guide to the baffled pair, although his words of advice only confirm their worst fears that death lies at the end of their involuntary journey. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead literature essays are academic essays for citation. In Hamlet, Fortinbras orders for the tragic spectacle of the dead bodies to be cleared. A very thorough compendium of excerpts from the most important criticism on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Act I opens with Rosencrantz (Ros) flipping a coin that has landed heads up over ninety times in a row. A scholarly assessment of Stoppard's work through the late 1970s, including a chapter on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. A very accessible introduction to Stoppard that includes a short chapter on Rosencrantz and Guildenstem Are Dead. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a dramatic comedy by Sir Tom Stoppard. First, Guil and the Player are arguing about death. Sherrod, Cheryl. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary & Study Guide. Difference Between Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead 1075 Words | 5 Pages. 1966: French President Charles de Gaulle proposes that Europe strive for more economic and political independence from the powerful domination of the United States and Russia, announcing on March 11 that France will withdraw her troops from NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and requests that NATO remove all its bases and headquarters from French soil. That’s what people do. It is an elegant film that becomes increasingly humorous and satisfying over years. It is an elegant film that becomes increasingly humorous and satisfying over years. 1966: Vietnam is becoming a full-scale military conflict. You can’t go through life questioning your situation at every turn.”. However, later assessments have suggested that Stoppard uses the Theatre of the Absurd more for comic effects than philosophical meaning. And in Beyond Absurdity: The Plays of Tom Stoppard (1979), Victor Cahn makes the case that "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a significant step in moving theatre out of the abyss of absurdity." Guildenstern quarrels with The Player and stabs him, but the knife is a theatrical prop and his death is only a performance. Cahn, Victor L., Beyond Absurdity: The Plays of Tom Stoppard, Associated University Presses, 1979. Jenkins, Anthony, editor, Critical Essays on Tom Stoppard, G.K. Hall, 1990. The movie, via some impressionistic scenes in passing, hints that it is happening in the present tense as dictated by the titular line taken from Hamlet —Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. What specific things do they question, of what are they unsure or in doubt? Rosencrantz is by nature more likely to avoid difficult questions than is his friend, and he ends his speculations on the nature of death with a series of frantic jokes. Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth) ramble obliviously through Elsinore Castle and its environs as the events of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" unfold around them. In their uncertainty about the meaning of things, they express confusion about reality. By chance, the coin continues to land on heads. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Rosencrantz pinches what he thinks is his own "dead" leg only to find out it's Guildenstern's. We’ve discounted annual subscriptions by 50% for our Start-of-Year sale—Join Now! We know "Hamlet" is about Hamlet. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a 1990 tragicomedy film written and directed by Tom Stoppard based on his play of the same name. When Hamlet enters, in the middle of his “To be or not to be” soliloquy, Rosencrantz resolves to confront him but finds himself unable to speak. By year's end, 389,000 U.S. troops are in South Vietnam and the bombing of North Vietnam is already extensive, despite growing protest to the war in the U.S. and abroad. Alabama Governor George Wallace signs a state bill on September 2 that forbids Alabama's public schools from complying with desegregation guidelines. However, the film follows a clear timeline that takes you from the duo’s traveling to Elsinore, meeting the players, arriving in Elsinore, interacting with king and queen and then Hamlet, taking to sea, and finally ending up on the … Word Count: 116. This comes to naught as Hamlet avoids them, but the parodic comedy sparkles when Rosencrantz's trousers fall down, recalling a similar scene at the end of Waiting for Godot. Parody In the United States alone, banks solicited 2.7 billion credit card applications by mail in 1995, roughly 17 for every American between the ages of 18 and 64. Last Updated on September 11, 2018, by eNotes Editorial. Start your 48-hour free trial and unlock all the summaries, Q&A, and analyses you need to get better grades now. Between the amateur Edinburgh production and the publication of the second edition in 1968, only a few changes were made to the script. 28, no. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Rosencrantz is less worried by the situation; he is, after all, winning. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Former Governor Wallace, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United States in 1968 and 1972, is now partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair as a result of an assassination attempt in May of 1972. Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search for an Author (1921) was an important precursor to the Absurdist genre. The play was first produced by an amateur company in the Edinburgh festival on April 11, 1966. 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