Arcadia

The Barn Theatre, Southwick Community Centre

October 6, 7, 8 & 9, 1999

Arcadia

by Tom Stoppard

Directed by
Bob Ryder


1999 BHAC Full Length Drama Competition
– Bea Waters Challenge Cup for Best Overall Production
– Best Actor : David Creedon for his magnificent and varied performance of a difficult but rewardingly entertaining part as Bernard Nightingale
– Chairman’s Award : to Rosemary Bouchy & Team for the best design of publicity and associated supporting and promotional material


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“Praiseworthy stab at the pretentious”
– Shoreham Herald –

Cast

1809 – 12


Lucy Tickner – Thomasina Coverly

Jim Calderwood – Septimus Hodge

David Goodger – Jellaby

Rols Ham-Riche – Ezra Chater

Kevin Isaac – Richard Noakes

Derek Fraser – Captain Brice

Judith Berrill – Lady Croom

Tom Griffiths – Augusta Coverly

 
The Present Day

Katie Brownings – Hannah Jarvis

David Creedon – Bernard Nightingale

John Garland – Valentine Coverly

Hannah Collis – Chloe Coverly

Tom Griffiths – Gus Coverly

 
Production Crew

Assistant DirectorJohn Garland

Stage ManagerMarc Lewis

Assistant Stage ManagerJean Porter

LightingMike Medway

Sound controlRob Stuckey

Set BuildingDavid Comber

Set BuildingDave Collis

Set BuildingBrian Box

Set BuildingMike Davy

Set BuildingMarc Lewis

Set BuildingMark Flower

Set PainterSheila Neesham

Set PainterFrances Thorne

PropertiesSue Whittaker

PropertiesMargaret Davy

CostumeMargaret Faggetter

CostumeJudith Berrill

CostumeAdrian Kenward

Press & PublicityRosemary Bouchy

Press & PublicityFrances Thorne

Press & PublicityRosemary Brown

Design & GraphicsJudith Berrill

Box OfficeMargaret Murrell

Front of House ManagerDavid Pierce

Front of House ManagerBetty Dawes

Front of House ManagerMark Flower
 

Programme Note #1: Arcadia

BR wrote “When Arcadia opened in 1993, an extremely rare thing happened – audiences and critics were at once convinced they were witnessing a new play which was going to rank among the classics of world theatre. So far that judgment has held up, ‘officially’, with Arcadia shooting effortlessly into the pop charts of English and Drama syllabuses around the globe.

What makes it so special? Probably a combination of things. There is an extraordinary range of ideas and ‘movements’ – the science of creation and the chaos of the natural world, the order of classicism and the inspired disorder of romanticism – just to be going on with. But all this clever stuff is presented in perfect theatrical form, through great characters caught up in a fascinating story line – or two related story lines, as the events of the past and the present continually intertwine. And then there is the sheer dexterity of the language and the comedy which Tom Stoppard uses to create both high entertainment and serious emotion.

And it’s the element of emotion, perhaps, that puts Arcadia onto a new level of achievement among Tom Stoppard’s works. To enjoy Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead, or Jumpers, or Travesties, it’s not necessary to feel particularly involved in the feelings of the central characters. But with Arcadia, we are drawn closely into caring about the future of Thomasina and Septimus, for example, and about Hannah’s gradual piecing-together of the truth about their lost lives. Stoppard’s plays were once accused of being full of wit and short on ‘heart’. Arcadia has both, in plenty. Along with his subsequent 1997 play The Invention of Love (about the poet and scholar A E Houseman) it sets a new high water mark.”