Sex, maths and low-brow literature come together to form Tom Stoppard's fascinating exploration of what it's all about and where will it end. 'Arcadia' this year can be found in the secluded President's garden at Magdalen College. The play lends itself well to an outdoor production, and the gradual nightfall casts a spell which heightens suspension of disbelief.
The play divides its attention between two sets of characters: one in Byron's Romantic period and the other in modern day, occupying the same English stately home, which Magdalen's ornately pretty garden and enclosing stone walls evoke effectively. As they engage themselves in intellectual jousting bouts, the surroundings support them; frustrated mathematician Valentine Coverly (Will Muirhead) agonises over the 'noise' disrupting the formulaic patterns of nature and is echoed by a passing plane and loud birdsong; he hypothesises that everything reaches room temperature ultimately, while the audience shiver and wish this were so (dress warmly!).
The complex verbal dodges and clever deductions with which Stoppard stuffs his plays are articulated wonderfully clearly by the young Magdalen Players, with especially strong performances from Lucy Foster (19th century schoolgirl maths genius Thomasina Coverly), Rob Hayward (arrogant academic Bernard Nightingale) and Emma Jenkinson (literary historian Hannah Jarvis). Stoppard tosses ideas into his cerebral melting pot and turns up the heat until the centuries collide peaceably in the last waltz. A captivating performance of a compelling play.
