North West Theatre

Arcadia

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Tom Stoppard
Library Theatre Company
23 Sep 10 to 09 Oct 10
The Lowry

In 1812 a scandal rocked the Croom household in Derbyshire. A sexual liaison, possibly involving Lord Byron, apparently ended in a fatal duel.

Two hundred years later, a pushy academic and a popular historian are trying to uncover the house’s true history.

Landscape gardening, Newtonian physics, classicism versus romanticism and chaos theory are all part of this comic literary detective story, which is both an exuberant celebration of the unpredictability of love and sex, and a poignant study of change and decay.

...this production of Tom Stoppard’s gloriously funny masterpiece is a total five-star-plus joyous night at the theatre... packed with verbal wit and intellectual games, every line a gem... Chris Honer has picked a totally perfect dozen as his cast and he deploys them with masterly aplomb. A superb drawing room set (designer Judith Croft)... exquisitely detailed costumes and perfect sound and light all help make this my best night at the theatre this year.
What's On Stage (Rating: 5/5)
leaves you with plenty to continue thinking about when you leave the theatre... But the brilliance of Stoppard is that he wraps around all of this a plot that keeps you wanting to see more like in a good adventure as well as keeping you laughing... Chris Honer's production is perfectly paced and very well performed... Beth Park is wonderful... Charlie Anson gets across the dry wit and charm of Septimus very well. Leigh Symonds is very good... James Wallace is more smarm than charm and gets a lot of humour from the character's arrogance and blind ambition, while Cate Hamer is far more grounded and natural... a very polished and entertaining production of a really clever and thoughtful but accessible and funny play by Stoppard and is highly recommended.
British Theatre Guide
...a charming and charismatic performance by Charlie Anson... Alasdair Craig in a beautifully deadpan comedic turn... excellent smarm and pomposity by James Wallace... Honer’s production is well delivered in a magnificent drawing room box set designed by Judith Croft... no weak member in the cast... several lines were lost through inaudibility... at times the piece feels a little like sitting in a university lecture... you can find you are being excluded by the high level of intellectual debate... an enjoyable piece of theatre and many laugh out loud moments... lacks the charm of... Importance of Being Ernest... loses out on any lasting emotional resonance of... I Ought to be in Pictures.
The Public Reviews (Rating: 3/5)
...a lot of the whodunnit about it, too, which means all the details must be crystal-clear, something Honer and his actors triumphantly achieve... James Wallace... and Cate Hamer... were first among equals for brilliantly observed our-time characterization. Alasdair Craig... and Caroline Bartleet... strongly supported them... Emma Gregory’s Lady Croom was a virtuosic incarnation of noblesse dirige... Charlie Anson fascinating... Beth Park, a relative newcomer, made a strong impression...
City Life (Rating: 4/5)
Director Chris Honer has managed to make Arcadia, a marathon for the intellect, into a very accessible evening out... As with sporting marathons, you feel drained afterwards but the experience is a rewarding and uplifting one... Peter Barich aquits himself really well as Captain Brice and I also enjoyed James Wallace as the academic with the inflated ego...
Sale and Altrincham Messenger (Rating: 4/5)