Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, spanning 180 years, encompasses drama, romance, poetry, and science. The two time periods, 1809 and 1989, occupy an English country house in Sidley Park.
First we meet an almost 14-year-old daughter, Thomasina Coverly (Rachael VanWormer), and her tutor, Septimus Hodge (Matt Biedel), in the year 1809. We soon learn that the young lady's talents include complex mathematics that neither she nor her tutor totally comprehend. During the tutoring session we meet the rather snoopy servant, Jellaby (Jim Chovick), who always has a tale to tell.
Poet Ezra Chater (David Radford) accuses Hodge of having a relationship with his wife. He finds, however, that almost every man has had a relationship with her. In quick order we meet the rest of the earlier residents. There is Richard Noakes (Bryan Curtiss White), Lady Croom (Glynn Bedington), and Captain Brice (Michael C. Burgess). While talked about, Lord Byron is never seen.
The contemporaries include Chloë, Valentine, and Gus Coverly (Kate Reynolds), (Jason Connors), and (Zev Lerner). Lerner also plays Augustus Coverly back in 1809. Valentine is a post-grad student who aids in discovering the past. The current residents have two house guests who are researching the history of the residents and guests of the estate during the earlier period. Rosina Reynolds plays writer Hannah Jarvis and Claudio Raygoza portrays Bernard Nightingale, a rather presumptuous researcher who draws conclusions from mid-air.
Truly enjoying Arcadia, beyond the excellent acting and direction, requires a bit of research. You could take an easy route, grab a program early and read the briefing. Or, you could go to your favorite search engine and read up on: Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb, English Park (a form of landscaping), the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment, the Second Law of Thermodynamics and deterministic universe, Swiss-born British Painter Henry Fuseli, English landscape architect Launcelot Brown, Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Italian artist Salvator Rosa, and Fermat's Last Theorem. Seriously.
Or you can sit back and enjoy Arcadia, as Stoppard mixes detective-like research by some very interesting characters.
While Arcadia is almost three hours long, its wonderful characters are so interesting and well acted that our interest is always piqued. Who will do what to whom? What fact or assumption will come up next? Will there be yet another romance?
Sean Murray's set is elegant, dominated by windows overlooking a clouded skyline as a backing, and a large dinning table. Bonnie and Nick Durben have festooned props, used in both eras, over the table. George Ye, again, designed a complicated sound track that works to perfection. Be sure to take special note in the final five minutes.
Lighting Designer Eric Lotze offers a variety of looks and colors defining each era. Jeanne Reith's costumes are excellent, suggesting each era as well as each role. Peter Herman's hair and wig design work well.
Director Sean Murray mixes quill pens with a laptop computer as we move back and forth through time. Stoppard slowly brings the two periods closer and closer together as the solution to the mystery comes closer. Just sit back and enjoy a delightful, challenging play performed to near perfection.
