A play of order and disorder and the clash of past and present, Arcadia takes audiences on an intellectual journey through time as it recounts events which take place in the same country house nearly two centuries apart.
In 1809, Sidney Park is home to the aristocratic Coverly family and their daughter Thomasina (Dakota Blue Richards), a gifted 13 year-old whose grasp of physics has clearly surpassed that of her tutor, Septimus. Her enquiring mind is also leading her into more worldly territory, and an entertaining exchange about the definition of ‘carnal embrace’ sets the tone for this profound yet playful analysis of the human condition and the world in which we live.
In the present day, a pair of academics conduct their individual research under a crackling cloud of sexual chemistry, pride and clashing ideals. Hannah is writing about the hermit who lived in the grounds after the landscape’s Classical order was given the Romantic treatment (fallen obelisks, hobgoblins in the hydrangeas, a perfectly constructed ruin). Meanwhile Bernard seeks evidence to back up his conviction that Lord Byron killed a man in a dual while staying as a guest in the house. As they spar, they stir up philosophies of determinism, science and results versus art and personality, gut instinct versus hard facts. In a similar vein to Thomasina and Septimus.
Humanising and enlivening all these lofty ideals is an on-the-button sense of humour, found in the sparkling dialogue, especially between Septimus and his friend Chater, over the discovery of Septimus and Mrs Chater engaging in a ‘perpendicular poke’ in the gazebo. Chater ‘demands satisfaction’ (much as Mrs Chater did, Septimus quips), triggering talk of the duel which Bernard is investigating, 200 years later.
As the ideas of the play deepen and characters become more involved, the initially clear-cut lines between past and present – given continuity only by an ancient tortoise, which appears in both eras – begins to blur, culminating in a poignant final scene, made more so by the audience’s foreknowledge of what’s to come.
Arcadia may demand more concentration than your average night at the theatre, but you don’t have to be able to follow the maths to enjoy it. It’s a fine production, well executed, with touches of comedy, romance and tragedy: delve as deeply as you will beneath its many rich layers.
Arcadia, Cambridge Arts Theatre, until 4 April, 7.45pm (2.30pm Thur & Sat matinee). Tickets from £15.
