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Review: Arcadia

Though attending a performance of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia would count as revision across the disciplines, it does not feel at all like work. Instead, this captivating drama challenges minds while still indulging in a bit of bawdy comedy. Stoppard, as per usual, weaves a dense web of connections with the highest dose of wit. He speculates upon order and disorder, the past and the present, creation and destruction. But even with such complexity of thought, Arcadia is not all brains. It holds heart at its centre.
The play moves between two time periods connected by one setting. In 1809, Septimus Hodge (Vyvyan Almond) teaches the child prodigy Thomasina (Chloe Cornish) on her family’s grand estate, whilst on the present day Derbyshire land academics investigate theories of literary scandal and scientific intrigue. Arcadia moves seamlessly between the two eras until the two eventually share the stage, perhaps brought together by the forces of attraction central to the play.
Admittedly the difficulty in this particular play is fusing the scientific, philosophical aspects with ‘the attraction that Newton left out’. It is integral to remember throughout that the mathematical proof of the movement toward doom holds a human tragedy within its numbers. In this production, there is a sense of that struggle to ground such difficult talk with that of the real people at the core.
At times, the actors stress the comedic element to an unnatural degree, seizing perhaps upon the easier task of a dialogue of sexual puns than discourse upon the future of the universe. But such a struggle does not detract exceedingly from great enjoyment of the work. Almond particularly excels as Hodge, his portrayal so compelling that his entrance onto the stage of an Oxford faculty lecture room would draw no disapproval.
In the end, just as Hodge demands Thomasina’s attention, Arcadia demands the same of the audience. It is a play that delivers a difficult pleasure. It requires the spectator to hold constant interest in its proceedings, without which one can become lost. But even in light of its challenging nature, it is not something any will undertake without eager anticipation. In its combination of the buzzing of brainwaves amidst the beating of the heart, Arcadia is the type of challenge that provides an uncommon thrill.

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