12th Feb, 2019
Tom Stoppard's Arcadia is a complex play. It examines ideas of time, truth, preordination, advances in scientific thinking, nature and artifice, truth and beauty. Complex mathematical and scientific formulae are juxtaposed against philosophy and religion in an attempt to explain life. There are layers upon layers in this play and at times the ideas and theories fall so thick and fast that the audience struggles to keep up.
In the 19th Century Septimius Hodge is a tutor to Thomasina, a child prodigy. Her intellect is vast and she sees the world differently to everyone else. Her mother, unable to understand her leaves her education to the tutor. The tutor seduces his way around the women in the household - including Thomasina's mother.
In the present day a group of researchers try to make sense of events from the past - they have some information, but not all, and are left to interpret the clues left to them to recreate the past. Naturally, since they do not have all the information, their interpretations are a little wide of the mark.
The friction between the characters, and between the actual events of which the audience is aware, and the inaccurate perception of the present day characters, makes this a very funny and clever, yet poignant play.
The complicated plot is served very well by a simple set - a table and chairs, a basket containing dress-up costumes, and a backdrop of opaque screens representing the windows and doors leading to the garden. Though the garden is key to the play, it never seen. Subtle lighting and music signal the changes between past and present.
The cast give impressive performances, citing theories and explaining algorithms with confidence. You would swear they understood it all exactly as they are saying the words. The chemistry on stage is tangible as they fight and bicker and flirt with each other.
This is a very clever play, skilfully produced and performed. It will make you laugh, but it may also make you scratch your head in consternation as you try to follow the mathematical and scientific arguments - unless of course science and mathematics are your thing. Fortunately for me - neither one being my thing - you can just enjoy the humour of the social situation and appreciate some great acting.
Arcadia plays until 16th March.
Denise Sparrowhawk
No comments:
Post a Comment