"Arcadia"

Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard is a sublimely written, but complex play. It’s filled with intelligent humor and complicated mathematics. The viewer must be prepared to listen intently, think deeply and may still feel confused, like an ill-prepared schoolchild.

Parallel scenes add to the fascinating chemistry of the play. The action takes place in the same great room in Sidley Park. The play begins in 1809 when 13-year-old Thomasina (Bel Powley) asks her tutor, Septimus Hodge, to explain what ‘carnal embrace’ is. Straight-faced Hodge explains the Latin word carne and defines the term as embracing a side of meat. So begins the humor.

The next scene is set in the same room about 200 years later. Two literary scholars have come to examine letters and books in the house to do research. Nightingale (Billy Crudup) is hoping to find a connection between the owners of the house and Lord Byron. He finds some evidence to suggest that Byron had been there (which he was) and that, after a dalliance with another poet’s wife, shot the poet in a duel (which he didn’t). In the meantime, Hannah (Lia Williams), another scholar, is researching the gardens and the identity of a mysterious hermit depicted in an artist’s sketch. The two argue about research and later there’s interesting dialogue about science versus literature.

In its own way, the setting by Hildegard Bechtler is a character. All action occurs in the same room. Nothing changes on the set and randomly placed items later have significance. Even the family is the same and some of the modern characters are descendants of Thomasina.

The brilliant young girl is constantly questioning her tutor and postulating ideas. To keep her busy, Hodge assigns Thomasina to figure out Fermat’s Theorem (which might sound familiar to those of you who followed Lisbeth Salander in The Girl Who Played With Fire.) The precocious child astutely makes observations about thermodynamics and determinism. In her notebook, Thomasina charts her ideas which later her descendant, Valentine, a post-grad student (Raul Esparza) plugs into his computer and explains to Hannah. For a fleeting few moments, we non-mathematical people in the audience, understand the concepts.

The most poignant point of the play is Thomasina’s grief at the destruction of the library at Alexandria when so many works by Sophocles, Euripides, etc. were destroyed. Her tutor in an attempt to comfort her tells her that nothing is ever lost. “The missing plays of Sophocles will turn up piece by piece, or be written again in another language. Ancient cures for diseases will reveal themselves once more. Mathematical discoveries glimpsed and lost to view will have their time again.“

And so it seems accurate when, years later, Thomasina’s own notebooks are being examined and her theories examined. In a wonderfully synchronized scene, both casts appear on stage together. Hannah and Hodge examine the notebooks simultaneously while Thomasina and Valentine work with the figures. And to further blur the lines of time and continuity, one actor (Noah Robbins) plays two characters, Thomasina’s brother Augustus and Valentine’s brother Gus.

The cast is fine, especially Powley with her infectious enthusiasm and youthfulness. Tom Riley (Hodge) is wonderfully attractive, intelligent and sarcastic. Crudup is a bit overly enthusiastic and affected in his portrayal. Raul Esparza, usually so expressive, is suitably restrained and intelligent. Lia Williams gives a smart and convincing performance as the scholar.

Arcadia is subtly directed by David Leveau. with his usual skill; it leaves the theatergoer with much to ponder. The play is glorious but demanding of a viewer since it requires rapt attention. Don’t be upset if you find yourself bewildered by the mathematical concepts. I was. Just relish the brilliance of a playwright who can present them so skillfully to you.