Arcadia
-
-
5.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- £8.49
-
- £8.49
Publisher Description
In a large country house in Derbyshire in April 1809 sits Lady Thomasina Coverly, aged thirteen, and her tutor, Septimus Hodge. Through the window may be seen some of the '500 acres inclusive of lake' where Capability Brown's idealized landscape is about to give way to the 'picturesque' Gothic style: 'everything but vampires', as the garden historian Hannah Jarvis remarks to Bernard Nightingale when they stand in the same room 180 years later.
Bernard has arrived to uncover the scandal which is said to have taken place when Lord Byron stayed at Sidley Park.
Tom Stoppard's absorbing play takes us back and forth between the centuries and explores the nature of truth and time, the difference between the Classical and the Romantic temperament, and the disruptive influence of sex on our orbits in life - 'the attraction', as Hannah says, 'which Newton left out'.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A talented ensemble delivers an unforgettable performance of Stoppard's classic. The playset at Sidley Park, an English country housefeatures dual plot lines and shifts between the early 19th and the present: in 1809, we follow the adventures of tutor Septimus Hodge (Douglas Weston) as he attempts to educate the young Thomasina Croom (Jennifer Dundas) while engaging in an illicit affair with a guest and warding off her poetcumwould-be duelist husband. In modern times, popular author Hanna Jarvis (Kate Burton) and university professor and Lord Byron devotee Bernard Nightingale (Gregory Itzin) converge at Sidley Park as they work to unravel the truth about the mysterious events of 1809 and its ramifications for literary history. Featuring brilliant performances from Itzin, Burton and Weston, this audio brims with humor and spirit as it delves into the nature of truth, the validity of history, and the relationship between past and present; truly a standout and a real treat for listeners. "" .
