Arcadia
Truth, Belief, Love and Mathematics
Arcadia is a modern classic. By the inimitable Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, The Coast of Utopia) this award winning play of star-crossed love and the second law of thermodynamics is presented by a cast and crew of graduating Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School students in October.
Tim Spite (The Brilliant Fassah, The Remedy Syndrome, SEEyD) returns to Toi Whakaari 16 years after graduating from the acting course to direct Arcadia, one of the Graduation Shows for 2007.
“I am in awe of this writing,” says Spite, when asked about why he chose the play. “Very rarely do you get to explore something theatrical and witty that isn’t Shakespeare.”
| When: | 8pm, 19 -27 October (2pm matinee Sat 20 & Sat 27 October, no show Mon 22 Oct) |
| Where: | Te Whaea Theatre, Te Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre, 11 Hutchison |
| Price: | $20 / $15 |
| Bookings: | 04 381 9253 (automated line) |
Spite appeared in Circa’s 1996 Arcadia, which played to sold out houses, and is keen to leave his own stamp on the play.
“I couldn’t resist this play because as well as being very funny it discusses the interface between truth and belief, which is something that intrigues me a lot.”
Spite’s own theatre group – The SEEyD Company - has looked at this very issue in subjects such as vaccination, genetic engineering, colonisation and spiritualism.
“In Arcadia clues are left by the past and are interpreted by modern scholars. But it’s interpretation clouded by personal belief, and that’s what I find interesting. Stoppard very cleverly sheds some light on the difficulty of research and how history unfolds for intricate reasons that we can never fully grasp once the time has passed.”
Spite enthuses about Stoppard’s ability to weave a wide array of subjects into one play; mathematics, physics, thermodynamics, computer algorithms, fractals, population dynamics, chaos theory, determinism, landscape design, romanticism, classicism, poetry, Byron, modern academia and sexual politics.
“What’s more is that he does all this in plain language without losing sight of a simple human story of attraction and impossible love.”
Director
Tim Spite
Designers
Chris O'Neill - Set
Meggan Frauenstein - Costume
Lucie Camp - Lighting
Mike Norman - Sound
Featuring
Antonia Bale
Natasha Falconer
Sophie Hambleton*
Ahilan Karunahara
Natano Keni
Natalie Medlock*
Ryan Richards
Bryony Skillington
Lee Smith-Gibbons
Shaneel Sidal
Sarita So
Stephen Townshend
Evania Vallyon
Hollie Weir
*The role of Thomasina will be played on alternate nights by Natalie Medlock (19, 21, 24 & 26 Oct at 8pm and at 2pm on 27 Oct) and Sophie Hambleton (20, 23, 25 & 27 Oct at 8pm and 2pm on 20 Oct).
