Reviews Bristol Published 7 April 2014

Arcadia

Tobacco Factory ⋄ 27th March - 3rd May 2014

The second rule of thermodynamics.

Geraldine Giddings

I suspect I’ll never forget the terrifying Richard III staged by Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory last year; recent productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet also stand out in my memory. Tom Stoppard’s kaleidoscopic play,  Arcadia, sees them stepping away from their usual programming choices, but Andrew Hilton’s company tackles the material with intelligence and artistry.

The play features two parallel narratives, both based in the same room and around the same table but set 180 years apart. Arcadia explores the progress of mathematics, physics, philosophy, literature and aesthetics while flying back and forth through time. It’s a fascinating text, simply structured, clearly explained, and generous in both wit and wistfulness.

The 1809 characters, contemporaries (and friends) of Lord Byron, are learned, experimental, interesting and perfectly cast. Piers Wehner veritably sparkles as quick-witted and roguish tutor Septimus Hodge. Backed up by a strong cast, his duet scenes with tutee Thomasina Coverly, her mother Lady Croom, and his love-rival Ezra Chater are a complete delight. Hannah Lee in particular stands out as a perfectly timed, appealing and astute young Thomasina. SATTF have quite clearly enjoyed creating these pacey scenes; they fizz with ideas and innuendo. The spare design allows Stoppard’s words to shine.

The present day characters are linked by the setting, a slowly accumulating pile of books and an everlasting tortoise. They are a mixture of those who are there by inheritance (being related to the same Croom family), and those who have come there in order to find out more about our past protagonists – those contemporaries of Byron who came into contact with Sidley Hall. They’re an eccentric, curious, investigatory and sarcastic bunch, and there is much opportunity for a similar level of quick repartee and impressive astuteness as we’ve already seen with Hodge, Croom et al. But something is lacking. The relationships in this second setup seem leaden by comparison. Feminist scholar Hannah Jarvis and boorish Bernard Nightingale (Polly Frame and Matthew Thomas) both play their parts convincingly, but they don’t seem to gel and feed off one as much as they might. The anachronistic setting of Sidley Hall is hardly felt – they are simply in a room, which feels like a missed opportunity. Arcadia’s present day scenes would be lost without the past in Hilton’s production. This feels like an opportunity missed; if anything, the contemporary scenes, with all their hindsight and dramatic irony, have the opportunity for more wit, a greater sense of discovery, and a closer connection with their contemporary audience. But this is not the case here.

In the final few scenes, the two stories play out onstage simultaneously. But rather than feeling the power of these two worlds finally colliding, it feels confusing. The climax of Hodge and Thomasina waltzing together, to the offstage piano music, is beautiful. It feels as though this is the key story, and that Jarvis and Nightingale’s discoveries about Hodge, the hermit, Ezra Chater and Lord Byron are secondary.

Perhaps it will become smoother as the run progresses. Or perhaps they have taken the key themes of entropy and the thermal cooling of the universe to heart. Perhaps the message to us is that we have lived the most exciting times and made the most exciting discoveries already. But I don’t feel that Stoppard would agree.

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Geraldine Giddings

Based in the South West of England, Geraldine is especially interested in multi art-form performance, circus, storytelling, outdoor arts and childrens' theatre. She has worked with circus production company Cirque Bijou since 2006 and also freelances in production, development, project management and marketing. A Circus Arts Forum mentorship in reviewing circus performance was a starting point, and she also contributes to Total Theatre.

Arcadia Show Info


Directed by Andrew Hilton

Written by Tom Stoppard

Link http://www.sattf.org.uk/

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