Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Last night I saw Arcadia a play by Tom Stoppard in London. Ed Stoppard, the playwright's son, performs. The play discusses chaos theory, fractals, the second law of thermodyamics, romance versus rationality, poetry and academic rivalries - all in the format of a drawing room comedy.
I also saw the 1995 New York production directed by Trevor Nunn at Lincoln Center, which was absolutely brilliant.

The poet Lord Byron is a constant but never seen presence in the play which quotes the following lines from one of his poems:

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies

No comments: