Scholars decode the past. Simultaneously the past decodes life. But desire gets in the way ... of everyone.

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Considered his best play, Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia moves back and forth between 1809 and the present. Set in the same room in both timelines, the 1809 scenes reveal a household in transition. The Arcadian landscape at the Coverly estate is being reconstructed as a picturesque Gothic garden, complete with "natural" waterfalls, "wild" groves, and a hermitless hermitage.

 

Parallel to this transformation, thirteen year-old Lady Thomasina ponders a mathematical formula for everything under the guidance of her tutor, Septimus Hodge. Septimus is simultaneously maneuvering a household rocked by numerous infidelities, some involving himself and some his friend Lord Byron. Present day scenes depict several scholars pursuing fame by researching and publishing about these past events. The play moves smoothly between the centuries and explores the nature of truth and time, the difference between Enlightenment and Romantic temperaments, and the disruptive influence of sexual attraction on all of our lives.

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