"Arcadia" returns this Spring with Billy Crudup

I love Billy, but I don't think I can justify spending more money on a Tom Stoppard nap.

This is actually one of the only Stoppard plays I can tolerate.

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Taz, I used to think he was challenging as well. I tried and tried to get through his material and then one day I just realized I don't think it's challenging at all. It's boring and pretentious and written so he can hear his words performed, no matter how horrendous the material might be. It's a mystery to me how his work is still produced.

I felt that way about Stoppard when I was in my 20s. Too cerebral, too complicated, all mind and no heart. I wouldn't say he changed... I think I did. His plays hit me now in a way they didn't then and I feel there is a big heart and playful mind at work in his best writing.

Arcadia is one of the best plays of the 1990s and while challenging, also one of Stoppard's more accessible works. It was not ideally served in its Broadway premiere production at Lincoln Center in 1995, so if news about the acclaimed David Leveaux production making its way here proves true, it's a major and welcome revival for this season.

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mallardo-

Seriously? Why don't you like Billy Crudup? He was by far the most brilliant member of the cast in Coast of Utopia. His Tony was extremely well deserved. I never saw him in the original production of Arcadia, but obviously he can handle Stoppard's language.
Also, he was incredible in The Pillowman a few years earlier. In fact, I don't ever think I've seen him turn in a bad performance on Broadway.

And I am SO excited for this production. I think it's one of Stoppard's most emotional and easily understood works.

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I totally get why people might not like Stoppard generally (though I disagree), but I don't know how anyone could fail to see the genius of Arcadia. The London production last year was wonderful. Samantha Bond (Hannah) and Dan Stevens (Septimus) particularly so.

Katurian2 - I didn't see Crudup in the plays you mentioned. My memories of him are of an older vintage so perhaps you're right. What I do know is that this is a revelatory production of a great play. Not to be missed.

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I must confess, I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when I was a kid and then years later, in my freshman year in college, I saw a REALLY terrible production of it at a college, the name of which escapes me. I spent the whole first act longing for subtitles. I'm pretty convinced it was the production seeing as how I don't recollect disliking the play when I first read it.

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This may tip the scale and entice me back to NY next year. Arcadia remains my favorite straight play, and was my first real introduction to Stoppard. Like the best of Stoppard, it's witty, intricate, intelligent, and deeply, deeply moving.

This is excellent news. Am planning a trip to Broadway in the spring and this is one of my most favourite plays. Would love to see it performed there