Arcadia - Tom Stoppard

This is without a doubt one of the finest modern plays I have read/seen/acted in. Stoppard is an incredibly accomplished playright, and this really is the proof of his rice pudding. The basic plot is so difficult to explain without belittling it, but it incorporates two time periods, each with two main characters that act as parallels to those in the other period. The characters are revealed throughout the play, and, if well acted, are people that you can really connect with and feel that you know. There is a wealth of scientific philosophy that should NOT put you off. It is integrated so well into the script, and has parallels within the storyline, and ...  Read the complete review

Many people will assume that to enjoy this play, you have to be brilliant. Not so, else how could it appeal to the general audience? The basic concept within the play is that it is an unravelling of a mystery. It is two stories in one. The first story is set in the past, the second in the present day. The past story concerns a young girl called Thomasina, who is a genius. She poses the simplest of questions to her tutor, yet the answering of those questions is shown to be incredibly complex. For example. Do you remember when you were given rice/tapioca pudding at school with a spoonful of jam in the middle? And how many of us stirred the jam into the pudding ...  Read the complete review

It's a shame how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern gets the vast majority of the press for Stoppard. Arcadia, though while far more intellectual, is a much superior work. Stoppard is able to work in the two time periods equally well and deftly weaves them together by small threads. As usual, his characterization is excellent, Septimus Hodge especially stands out for me as a complex and very endearing character. The real question is, How much do you have to know about the background topics discussed. Well, a working knowledge of Newtonian physics and Victorian poetry will certainly add to the enjoyment of the work, but as with Stoppard, is not a must. Why they have not ...  Read the complete review