Best Tom Stoppard Play? Arcadia?

[M&M]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 1:36pm

Ok, weigh in...How many real theatre buffs do we have out there? Who's read Stoppard? Got a Fav...let's hear it!

My vote: Arcadia

Arcadia
Greenwich Street Theatre @ 547 Greenwich Street
November 9, 2005 - November 20, 2005
$12 w/ code: CROOM call 212-352-3101
http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/115989

Arcadia n. A region of rural peace, simplicity and contentment.
Arcadia is one of the great plays of the 20th century. The plot revolves around a modern-day academic quest to discover the truth about a duel that may have been fought on a British country estate in 1809. It takes place in the past and the present. It is a play about sex and love, art and science, the emotions and the intellect, loss and decay. As the title suggests, it explores the search for a paradise that we feel we once had but can't find again. Its multi-layered dialogue is masterfully crafted. Its humor is wickedly clever, its ultimate tragedy heartbreaking and universal. British accents abound, as do references to Lord Byron, thermodynamics, and tortoises.
$12 w/ code: CROOM call 212-352-3101
originally $15
Discount to Arcadia

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 1:38pm

Great play. Awful production of a Stoppard masterpiece. Some of the worst acting in town. Save your money.
http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/arcadia.htm

[TimeSuckage]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 1:57pm

Arcadia is a writing masterpiece, Stoppard's best and up there with the best of Miller, O'Neill, Albee, etc. On its surface the language is gorgeous and funny and the themes both intellectual and emotional, but the genius is in the construction. Stoppard uses the mathematical theorem discussed in the play of factoring the result back into the equation to build scenes onto each other. Only Stoppard could structure a play based on mathematics and have it be romantic and funny and enlightening. Pure genius. Sorry to hear the recent production is not up to par, but it's a heady work and not suited for just anyone to mount.

[katygrace84]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 2:01pm

I still love Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. My copy is dog-eared and highlighted to within an inch of its life.

[TheGirlontheSwing]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 2:02pm

Has anyone seen "Artist Descending a Staircase" bc i am going to college production tonight?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 2:22pm

Still got a soft spot for TRAVESTIES...and HAPGOOD I liked better than ARCADIA.

[timote316]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 2:23pm

My college did Arcadia last semester. The production was top notch, one of the best productions of any play I have seen. The cast was very talented and cast perfectly - however, I found the play excruciatingly dull. Its definately a play in which you have to pay attention to every word spoken by every character. Miss one thing and you are lost.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 2:33pm

The original production of ARCADIA was brilliant. I adored the production of THE REAL THING that played on Broadway a few years ago with Stephen Dillane and Jennifer Ehle (who both took home Tony Awards). I also was a big fan of the recent revival of JUMPERS with Simon Russell Beale (beautifully directed by David Leveaux).

I look forward to his COAST OF UTOPIA coming to Lincoln Center in the fall. A friend participated in a reading of it and said it's remarkable -- very LONG but remarkable.

Updated On: 11/18/05 at 02:33 PM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 2:43pm

I do very much regret not seeing Coast of Utopia. Some friends saw it and absolutely loved it. They saw it over 3 nights though.

[fiatlux]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 3:13pm

I love R&G Are Dead and had the pleasure of playing Rosencrantz (or was it Guildenstern?)in a production which ran in tandem with a production of Hamlet where we all played the same parts and the direction was mirror imaged. Some of the backstage confusions were worthy of Noises Off.

Jumpers and Night & Day are my great faves tho'. Rough Crossing an adaptation of Molnar via Woodhouse is huge fun and I had a great time in that one. I'm not so sure if it's so well known on Broadway - it's just daft enjoyment.
Rough Crossing

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 3:56pm

Arcadia is one of those pieces of theatre that just grabs my heart and twists it around. It is somehow so moving that just reading this thread makes me want to go re-read the play or see a first rate production right away. There may be better written Stoppard plays, but this one touches me deeper than the others, and isn't that what true art is supposed to do?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 4:20pm

I've found that The Invention of Love is a better show (usually) than Aracadia -- mainly because the expectation isn't quite a high for Invention of Love as it is for Arcadia -- even though both are nearly perfectly written.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 4:41pm

r and g are dead is my favorite of his. i think it is absolutely brilliant on every level.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 4:44pm

Arcadia gets my vote with The Invention of Love coming right after it... Wish I could have seen India Ink. But certainly looking forward to Utopia...

[pab]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 5:18pm

The Real Thing

[hak]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 5:20pm

i was in ARCADIA at a local community theatre. played Jellaby

[TimeSuckage]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 6:33pm

Saw Indian Ink in London. Not his best, not by a long shot. Saw both the original Real Thing with Glenn/Jeremy and revival with Dillane/Ehle. It was my favorite Stoppard before I saw Arcadia.

[LaurenB]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 6:03am

Loved The Real Thing. Saw an amateur production of Arcadia and while I enjoyed the play, it didn't "sing" the way The Real Thing did. I'd have to see a better production.

I saw Coast of Utopia and loved it. It was too long, or at least spent time on some subplots that I didn't find interesting, particularly in the third play. I understand Stoppard has rewritten it. Does anyone know who will be in it? I don't know if I will have the opportunity to see the Lincoln Center production, but I would find it very interesting to compare the 2 productions.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 6:09am

I l,ove Arcadia. I love some of Stoppard's stuff, but I didn't love THE REAL THING when it was in Boston about a month ago. There was just something about it that kind of irked me. It felt like theyw ere always throwing what love was supposed to be right in your face, which was a bit daunting. The acting was good, but I couldn't really sympathize with the characters, maybe that's the point. oh well, tom Stoppard for the mnost part is Brilliant.