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Arcadia

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Arcadia

By: Tom Stoppard
Narrated by: Kate Burton, Mark Capri, Jennifer Dundas, Gregory Itzin, Christopher Neame, Peter Paige, Douglas Weston
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Summary

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia merges science with human concerns and ideals, examining the universe's influence in our everyday lives and ultimate fates through relationship between past and present, order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge. Set in an English country house in the years 1809-1812 and 1989, the play examines the lives of two modern scholars and the house's current residents with the lives of those who lived there 180 years earlier.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring:

Kate Burton as Hannah

Mark Capri as Chater

Jennifer Dundas as Thomasina

Gregory Itzin as Bernard Nightingale

David Manis as Captain Brice

Christopher Neame as Noakes/Jellaby

Peter Paige as Valentine

Darren Richardson as Augustus

Kate Steele as Chloe

Serena Scott Thomas as Lady Croom

Douglas Weston as Septimus

Music composed and arranged by John Rubinstein.

Includes an interview with Steven Strogatz, the author of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos and professor at the Cornell University School of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics.

Directed by John Rubinstein. Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in December of 2008.

Arcadia is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world.

©2009 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2009 L.A. Theatre Works Drama & Plays European United States World Literature Theatre
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Critic reviews

“Tom Stoppard’s richest, most ravishing comedy to date. A play of wit, intellect, language, brio and emotion,” and The Royal Institution of Great Britain calls it: “the best science book ever written.” ( )The New York Times)
All stars
Most relevant
There are some very good things about this recording. It's clear, entrances and exits are by and large well delineated. It makes sense, allowing for the complexity and farcical nature of the narrative. The fact that a significant character who never speaks may or may not be in the room is a problem for any audio adaptation.

It is unfortunate, however, that a very significant character bears the surname Nightingale. Pronounced in English English with almost equal stress on all 3 syllables, pronounced by these actors as a dactyl (NITE-n-gale) with the last two syllables swallowed. Consequently, every time the character is referred to, I wince, and that, and other pronunciation infelicities, makes this an unhappy listening experience. I suppose if you don't know it's wrong, it doesn't matter. Maybe calling General Powell COLL-INN, not colon, seems very wrong to American listeners.

US actors doing posh British accents

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Excellent but you need a copy of the written play to follow it, especially the last scene since the stage directions, which are not read outloud in this recording, play a crucial role, keeping that in mind it is a great play and very well performed.

Excellent

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

While this witty and erudite play text provides both entertainment and intellectual challenge, problems with the production rather spoiled my enjoyment.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

This isn't really relevant to a drama text.

What aspect of the narrators’s performance might you have changed?

Well, this isn't an audiobook, but an audio production of a play, so there are multiple voices. Here lies my main problem. As a UK listener, I could not suspend my disbelief in the English accents of some of the American actors playing British roles. They weren't terrible, and a US listener might not have a problem with this aspect of the performance. However, it is not just a matter of pronunciation or vowel sounds. Sentences were stressed in an unidiomatic way, and meaning was sometimes lost.There are some complex mathematical and intellectual ideas presented here, so clarity of meaning is important.

The play is split into two time frames, that of the 18th century juxtaposed with a modern setting. It seems to me that the actors chosen for the 18th century sections were native Brits (or if not, American actors with impeccable accents and delivery.) The contemporary sections are voiced with American actors who can't quite get it right. The production also sounds under-rehearsed in the contemporary sections, with some rather emotionally unvaried performances.

There are also some visual effects which are hard to reproduce in audio format, which could have been edited out.

I have listened to many LA Theatre Works offerings and they are generally excellent. Even the Ayckbourn plays with mixed US/British casts are almost completely convincing. This was a disappointment.

Was Arcadia worth the listening time?

Not entirely. This is a stimulating but complex text which is nearly 3 hours in length. It needs better acting and direction in parts to justify the committment from the listener.

Difficult subject matter, and a bit mis-cast.

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Would you consider the audio edition of Arcadia (Dramatized) to be better than the print version?

Although the question of comparing a printed version to the audio edition is somewhat strange, as it is a play, I prefer the audio version of Arcadia.

Any additional comments?

A great, great play - heartily recommended. Stoppard at his finest.

A great play well performed

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One of the most amusing and inventive plays of the last fifty years but this production fails to do it justice. Some very uncertain pronunciation and at times poor articulation and generally the parts are under characterised. Such a pity.

Witty writing but dreadfully miscast.

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