Arcadia

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. The play is set in an English stately home at two different times - 1809 and 1993. Two characters are researching the history of the house, in particular the young girl who it seems discovered chaos theory 200 years before the "geniuses" at M.I.T. and Harvard. We are taken backwards and forward through time, discovering how events of the past are misinterpreted by the historians of the present.

The original text

Published by Faber and Faber, 1993.

Performance history in South Africa

The South African première of the play was presented by CAPAB from 2 to 16 October 1993 at the Nico Theatre directed by Roy Sargeant starring Jennifer Sale (Thomasina Coverly), Edward Baker-Duly (Septimus Hodge), Neels Coetzee (Jellaby), Mark Graham (Ezra Chater), Jay Heale (Richard Noakes), Diane Wilson (Ldy Croom), Anthony Bishop (Captain Edward Brice), Shirley Johnston (Hannah Jarvis), Jana Van Niekerk (Chloë Coverly), Ralph Lawson (Bernard Nightingale), Tim Mahoney (Valentine Coverly), Brian Webber (Gus Coverly/Augustus Coverly). Decor by Keith Anderson, costumes by Fanie Steenkamp, lighting by John T. Baker. Piano music composer Michael Tuffin.

Produced in South Africa by the Civic Theatre (February to 11 March 1995), in Johannesburg and CAPAB in Cape Town and at the National Arts Festival, the latter directed by Roy Sargeant in 1994. Decor by Keith Anderson, costumes Fanie Steenkamp, lighting Bernard Hegarty, stage director Patrick Curtis, stage manager Glen Melville, assisted by Louwrens Fourie and Paul Smith. The cast included Nicole Franco, Stephen Jennings, Neels Coetzee, Anthony Bishop, Jay Heale, Diane Wilson, Patrick Lyster, Shirley Johnston, Jana van Niekerk, Ralph Lawson, Thomas Hall, Brian Webber.

Sources

Arcadia theatre programme, 2993.

National Arts Festival programme, 1994

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