Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Andrew Hilton 

27 March - 19 April 2014
 and in repertoire: Thu 24, Fri 25 , Mon 28, Tues 29, Weds 30 April & Sat 3 May

15th Anniversary Season Appeal

'SATTF receives no form of public subsidy; and in the present financial climate funds from commercial sponsors and charitable trusts are ever more difficult to find. So the support of individuals is critical to our survival. We have therefore launched a 15th Anniversary appeal to raise a vital £15,000 to support our 15th Season and help to secure our work into the future.' Artistic Director, Andrew Hilton

Photo: Tom Stoppard by Matt Humphrey

Arcadia - Press Reviews:

★★★★ The Observer 'Arcadia is a departure in genre but not in quality for Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory … Sped along with a battery of jokes, the real dramatic ingenuity is to make the structure of the play part of its argument. To talk about the irreversibility of consequences and to show it. To declare that "sooner or later we are all going to end up at room temperature" and to question this in fiery action. This is a play whose influence can still be seen – most recently in Nick Payne's Constellations. Yet Andrew Hilton's production brings out something more surprising. The staging is in the round and close to the audience; arguments become intimate as the lighting softens to a mellow glow. The members of the cast are mostly familiar to regular attenders at this theatre, which has created an informal company. The benefits are enormous. We see a warmth that quickens the heart of the action.'  Susannah Clapp (6.04.14)

★★★★The Guardian 'Andrew Hilton....brings the same cool clarity that he has brought to Shakespeare at this address... Hilton is more than a match for Stoppard's dancing intelligence, but he finds a flaming warmth, too...' Lyn Gardner (20.04.14)

★★★★  'We know they can do Shakespeare. We know they can do Chekhov and Molière. This production of what for many of us is the finest play of the past 25 years proves without a doubt that they can do Stoppard too. This is Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory's first production of a contemporary work and they perform it as if to the manner born.' John Campbell (3.04.14)

' It’s hard to recall a better night in the theatre recently. The characters are deeply engaging (to the point where, Romeo and Juliet-style, you want to start calling out warnings), the costumes are gorgeous, the cast are superlative and the script is razor-sharp. Hilton has done justice to what is probably my favourite non-Shakespeare play, giving the Tobacco Factory yet another unmissable production. SATTF’s Arcadia is basically flawless, and I’m still grinning whenever I think about it. Go.' Eleanor Turney (3.04.14)

★★★★★ Epigram 'If I could use one word to describe Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s presentation of Arcadia, I would use ‘beautiful’ ' John Berry (4.04.14) 

★★★★ (+) The Public Reviews 'SATTF’s revival reminds us why Stoppard’s fast-paced and linguistically dazzling masterpiece is so admired and, even if it is sometimes difficult to grasp Arcadia’s complexities over the course of three hours, you will certainly still be spellbound.' Claire Hayes (3.04.14)

★★★★ Stage Talk Magazine 'The Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory ensemble has stepped across seamlessly from their excellent production of As You Like It to convince with this leviathan of a play.' Simon Bishop (3.04.14) 

★★★★ Plays To See 'Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory chose well in pairing Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia with Shakespeare’s As You Like It.... This production is frequently funny, often profound and constantly well-executed.' Emily Derbyshire (3.03.14)

The Fine Times Recorder 'Andrew Hilton has taken this play by the man who honed his writing skills on the Bristol Evening Post (extraordinary idea in this Local World age!) and found even MORE delights in a production full of wit, energy and intellectual athletics.' Gay Pirrie-Wier (3.04.14)

The Western Daily Press 'As you would expect from the Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory company, technically the play goes like clockwork with every line polished, character and tone deftly established, and immaculate timing in the delivery of a string of clever jokes.' Helen Reid (4.04.14)

 Bristol 24-7 'For a play that incorporates themes of thermodynamics, integrated algorithms, the arcadian pursuit of paradise and the passage of time, it is hugely funny. Produced by the excellent Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory team in their first attempt at a contemporary production, you’d expect nothing less though.' Jane Duffus (7.04.14)

Arcadia

In 1809 the grounds of a stately home are being reconstructed in the newly popular ‘picturesque’ style. Amid towering crags and waterfalls will be a lonely hermitage, for which a real, living hermit will have to be found.

Two centuries later, as an author and an academic pursue their very different lines of research, the hermit will be discovered to have been a madman. But what had driven him to madness, what was the purpose of the piles of notes discovered with his body, and what part had the young daughter of the house played in his tragic life?

Crossing the centuries - and changing notions of the Arcadian dream - are mysteries of history, sex, chaos theory and Newtonian equations; and an accusation of murder against Lord Byron. Challenging, intriguing and witty – but also heartfelt – this play has been widely acclaimed as Stoppard’s masterpiece.

SATTF is proud to present Arcadia as its first production of a play from our contemporary theatre.


Cast 

Thomasina Coverly                       Hannah Lee

Septimus Hodge                           Piers Wehner

Jellaby                                         Christopher Bianchi

Ezra Chater                                  Vincenzo Pellegrino

Richard Noakes                             Alan Coveney

Lady Croom                                  Dorothea Myer-Bennett

Captain Brice                                 Paul Currier

Hannah Jarvis                               Polly Frame

Chloë Coverly                                Daisy May

Bernard Nightingale                       Matthew Thomas

Valentine Coverly                          Jack Wharrier

Gus Coverly/Augustus                    Tom England 

Production
Director                                        Andrew Hilton
Assistant Director                          Nicholas Finegan
Designer                                       Harriet de Winton
Costume Supervisor                      Jane Tooze
Composer & Sound Designer          Dan Jones
Choreographer                              Kay Zimmerman


Photos: Graham Burke