Arcadia – Duke of York’s Theatre
Arcadia is a time-shifting play set across two centuries, where we see teenage prodigy Thomasina Coverly living in the early nineteenth century, rapidly thinking beyond her time as she explores mathematics and the natural world. In contrast, the present-day storyline follows Hannah Jarvis as she investigates the life of Lord Byron while staying in the same country house, Sidley Park.
The play is highly thought-provoking, raising complex questions about knowledge, history, and certainty. At times, it can be puzzling to follow how the two timelines interlink, but this is also what makes it engaging, as the audience is encouraged to actively piece together meaning across centuries.
One of the central ideas is the contrast between the two approaches to history and knowledge. Bernard Nigh...