Arcadia: A Play by Tom Stoppard Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Arcadia: A Play
Book Review: Many Pleasures from Such a Well-Done, Well-Interweaved Variety of Topics and Characters
Summary: 5 Stars
Another reviewer began the review with this: "Arcadia is one of the most touching and enlightening works of literature I have ever read. The interweaving of ideas from physics, fractals, literature, architecture, history, psychology and many other fields of knowledge hidden in the play is just perfect." I agree with the sentiment. I adored the live play; saw it twice! I also read the play afterwards -- now twice, too. The reviewer I quoted, though, got bogged down later in the review of whether Stoppard is brilliant enough as Einstein or is just showing off. The play is not a Philosophical Inquiry of Great Rigor. The ideas, to me anyway, are like the proverbial unicorn story: see one (wow! is it real?; a couple folks see it: super-wow; but once everyone sees it: "so what? it's a horse with a horn in its head."). The delight for me was not in the "novel" ideas, but in the way in which they are used as another means of entertainment: much as characters in an Eric Rohmer (French) Film might discuss Kant's Synthetic A Priori. The characters are IMMENSELY entertaining and that they discuss philosophy or math just adds to what is entertaining about them -- specifically it adds variety. So you have the usual drama subjects, but more too. The main thing then is this: ALL is WONDERFULLY done and you derive your pleasure from all the very well-done VARIETY of fun and drama and topics ALL NICELY WOVEN TOGETHER, not hodge-podged at all.Book Review: Many different views
Summary: 5 Stars
I just recently attended a performance of this play by a local theater group. During the intermission, I overheard many people talking about how badly this play was written and how it was completely unrepresentative of Stoppard, and it wasn't even funny at all. I thought about explaining the concept of "thoughtful laughter" to these people, but refrained, because my age is approximately one-third to one-fourth of theirs. I don't agree. I found this play exceedingly entertaining, if I listened only for the puns, jokes, double entendres, and other language manipulations. On a level beyond that, the stories of the characters themselves can be wittily playful one minute and poignantly touching the next. Deeper still were the philosophical implications of what Stoppard said, how the intellectual and the emotional have to meet (as they did, in one character).
Basically, the play is about two groups of people, one in 1809, and one in the present. Those in 1809 are dealing with scandals, schoolwork, and sitting rooms, while those in the present are researching the characters that appear in the other part. It is nice to know a bit about chaos theory, thermodynamics, Lord Byron, and botany (can you recognize a dahlia on sight?) when reading or seeing this play, but it's not necessary. (I.E., if you've read Jurassic Park, that's all you need to know about chaos theory. If you know what a reversible equation is, then you're fine there, and, well, Lord Byron was a English Romantic poet.)
The person with whom I attended this play made a very cogent comment about the play: "If you only get one joke in five, then that's enough to think it's funny." But if you're one of those lucky people like me who understood a lot more than that, then this is a witty, poignant, suspenseful, and intelligent play, quite like _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead_. It is, in my opinion, neither unrepresentative of Stoppard nor badly written. Go see it!
Book Review: Novelization
Summary: 4 Stars
Stoppard wrote some nifty play there for a while, and then he joined PBS and the American regional theatre association's call for safe plays that create a seamless flow in mood from gourmet meal to theatre and back. This is the sort of play that is great for fundraisers, American-style. The play itself is seen as a masterpiece, but notice that it is long-forgotten. It's easy to confuse with "Upstairs Downstairs" or was it "Room of One's Own."? Stoppard fell in love with time-bending stories, mixing modern and Victorian, and has made it his signature style. Dramatic impact is destroyed in the process, but who cares? The goal is not to shake people people up but to make them feel good. Compare "Arcadia" with a Dicken's novel and you are half way there.Book Review: One of the best plays ever
Summary: 5 Stars
Tom Stoppard is a master, and this play makes that evident. He deals with subtle themes and intellectual issues but always keeps humanity at center stage. What a treat.Book Review: One of the best plays of the 20th century.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read this, I've acted in it (Septimus Hodge) and I've seen the stage version at Lincoln Center. This is quite simply one of the most intriguing, complex, moving works of literature written in the 20th century. Read it. Twice. Then read it again. It's that rich.