[NEohioPAL] Review of CWRU's "Arcadia"

[hlewelle at bw.edu]

This "reviewer" is a Stoppard fan and a retired math professor.

"Arcadia" takes place on an old English estate but time flashes forward
and back between 1809 and "the present."  In the past we see many sexual
trysts being played out before the uncomprehending eyes/ears of a 14 year
old (later 16  year old) girl being tutored in maths and Latin by Septimus
Hodge.  She (Thomasina Coverly) comes up with an idea for mathematizing
nature using iterated algorithms, unfortunately about 150 years before
computers could have handled the arithmetic.  So, a female math genius.

In the present a female academic (Hannah) is working on trying to tease
out the details of what really went on in the house in 1809, basically
concerned with the history of landscape gardening.  She is joined by
another academic who is trying to place Lord Byron, friend of Septimus
Hodge, on the scene.  As we see, they get lots of things wrong.  They are
living in and around the house with the descendants and heirs of the 1809
inhabitants, the Coverlys.  The eldest Coverly (Valentine) is a
mathematician working with (of course) iterated algorithms and using as
his data base the "game books" of the family (basically a record of all
the animals that have been shot on the estate over the years).  Again
there are sexual games, but of a more restrained nature.

As the academics get closer to the truth, the two eras begin to coexist in
the same room, making for some fascinating overlaps, not to mention the
directing challenge.

My husband and I went to see this show last Friday performed by CWRU's
graduate actors at Cleveland Play House during yet another March
snowstorm.  I'm sorry the run is over, because if you didn't get to see
it, you missed a terrific production.

First of all, it's Stoppard, so the play is very funny and intellectually
exciting.  Mounting the play has to be a tricky endeavor, but the
direction (Ron Wilson) was great, the sets (Jill Davis) and lighting
(Michael Boll) were great, and the acting was--OK, maybe a little spotty,
but all the characters were beautifully clear and the leads were
tremendous.

Zac Hoogendyk as Septimus Hodge and Lindsay Iuen as Thomasina Coverly were
able to make you believe you were in the year 1809.  Plushy accents and
characterizations perfect.  Then Leigh Williams as Hannah Jarvis, Tom
White as her academic rival, Bernard Nightengale, and Tom Picasso as
Valentine Coverly with modern clipped academic accents (still British)
were able to convey academic rivalries, quibbles over minute details, and
the frustrations of dealing with nature.  Mathematization undone by sex.

The other actors were also very good, sometimes doubling in two roles,
sometimes in the same scene.

This is such a great play, and I would love to see it done by one of the
professional companies in town.  One doesn't need to understand what
iterated algorithms are to enjoy a Stoppard play about time, academia,
and, oh, yes,  sex.

Reviewer: Hester Lewellen, math professor emerita, Baldwin-Wallace College
(and part-time actress)