Mathematics, physics, history and literature unite to take the mind on an adventure as scientists and researchers ponder the past while 19th century geniuses make discoveries. In the School of Theatre and Dance’s rendition of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, the past and present collide and the stage is shared by characters unaffected by time.
Throughout the play, each of the characters strives to uncover the past or make way for the future, and the depth behind each scene will leave the audience pondering life, love, literature and so many other things.
"The theater should be a place where we examine huge issues, the deepest issues, personal issues and make them accessible the way Shakespeare did," director Sidney Berger said.
For Berger, plays of this caliber are especially enjoyable to work on.
"I love working on plays that have huge dimensions," he said. "I love cultivating into the dark tunnel of that play knowing I’ll never reach the end of it. I think to a degree, the same is true of this play. I think Stoppard’s a genius, and I know that I would love to do this play again in order to go even deeper than the five weeks we’ve been working."
The play begins with Septimus Hodge (Caleb George), friend of Lord Byron and tutor of the brilliant young Thomasina Coverly (Pamela Hollenshead). Discussions of math and physics are interrupted as Septimus speaks of carnal embraces, better known as sexual relations, giving a humorous description to Thomasina right before her mother appears on the scene.
For theater senior Kim Tobin, preparation for her role as the dedicated and detail-oriented present-day researcher Hannah Jarvis involved a lot of research of her own. In the play, Hannah clashes with Bernard Nightingale (Brian Hamlin), a literature expert studying a mysterious aspect of Lord Byron’s life. Berger said that Nightingale is motivated solely by his own ambitions and, despite the arguments and clashes of views, "in the middle of chaos, there is this order and really, that’s what this play’s about."
For Tobin, her character helps represent this order.
"Hannah is very attached to the idea that everything needs to be ordered and put in boxes, where you can take them out and track them so that they make sense because you have facts," she said. "She is our representative metaphor for order."
Tobin said that one of the most rewarding parts of acting is conveying themes such as those found in Arcadia.
"You watch a show about the universe and about how your life is this unfolding – you can’t embrace what you can control and what you can’t control. It has to be a great play that goes, ‘Oh, how can I apply these principles to my life being more full?’ And as an actor, if I can communicate that and have that experience with that audience, it’s one of the best experiences actors usually have."
The play has no heavy plot to guide it, giving it free reign to focus on the issues that Stoppard finds important enough to address. Berger said that unlike Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which completes itself, Arcadia could go on.
"I think that Tom Stoppard is one of the world’s greatest playwrights," Berger said. "He explores the depths of philosophical and human concerns in ways that no other playwright does."
