Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
Malvern Theatres, April 7
Lee Farley writes for The Observer
Enjoyable revival of witty & intelligent classic
English Touring Theatre return to Malvern with Blanche McIntyre’s solid production of Tom Stoppard’s 1993 well-loved tale of history, science, literature, landscape gardening and love. The play is undoubtedly brilliant – packed with ideas, playful, structurally fascinating and bursting with intellectual curiosity. The production mostly serves the play well but has flaws which prevent it being a definitive version.
Arcadia takes place in the same room in Sidley Park, Derbyshire in two different times – 1809/12 and 1993. Events from 1809 are discovered, researched and misinterpreted by characters in 1993. Themes and ideas are discussed by both generations and the play raises questions about history, determinism, memory, chaos theory and the second law of thermodynamics. Stoppard has high expectations of his audience and the sheer amount of complex ideas and verbal sparring can be overwhelming, but this production is good at explanation and clarity and the intellectual debate is absorbing and thrilling.
Arcadia is astonishingly complex from a theatrical perspective, its themes are ingeniously mirrored by its structure. Stoppard believes that it’s the search for truth which makes us human, that the joy of life is found in asking questions. The play is asking its audience to do precisely that – we’re looking for clues from 1809 to inform our understanding of 1993, which is exactly what the characters are doing too. The play is a puzzle, like the maths and science theories it expounds, and it’s up to us and Sidley Park’s characters to piece together the solutions.
The room itself is the root of the production’s major flaw – its stagecraft. A very large table is placed downstage which puts a literal barrier between the audience and obscures much of the action. Only once do the characters venture downstage of the table and it’s no coincidence that this is the most emotionally effective scene. A criticism often levelled at Stoppard is that he allows the head to rule the heart and his plays lack emotional engagement. Arcadia goes some way to addressing that criticism, but in placing its characters so far from the audience, this production tips the balance in the wrong direction. I can only assume the design was created for an audience looking down on the action. For Malvern’s stalls, this decision proves very unsuitable.
The cast produce much excellent work. Ed MacArthur’s Valentine makes an excellent job of clarifying some of Stoppard’s more obscure maths and brings emotional insight to a character who often appears cold and unengaging. Kirsty Besterman’s Lady Croom is full of restraint and pent-up passions, a sensitive, affecting interpretation. Some of the other roles are underexplored – Stoppard offers much in the way of romantic subtext which is occasionally lost in the energy and rapid delivery of the rich dialogue.
Arcadia is an endlessly entertaining, sparklingly witty, engaging, cleverly structured and intellectually nourishing play, performed here in a solid but not entirely successful production.
