Arcadia is first set in April 1809 at an elegant English country estate. Thomasina, a gifted pupil, proposes a startling theory well beyond her comprehension. All around her, the adults, including her tutor Septimus, are preoccupied with secret desires, illicit passions and professional rivalries. Two hundred years later, academic adversaries Hannah and Bernard are piecing together puzzling clues, curiously recalling those events of 1809 in their quest for an increasingly elusive truth.
What Is the Story of Arcadia?
Set in both 1809 and the present day, Arcadia takes place at a lavish English estate where Thomasina, a 19th-century teenager, has discovered a mathematical theory years ahead of her time. Dismissed by her suave tutor Septimus, Thomasina continues to look into her discovery while casually observing the various infidelities of her mother and the other adults residing in her home. During modern times, two academics work alongside the home’s current tenants (Thomasina’s relatives) to research the events that occurred in the house during Thomasina’s time. The academics have varied viewpoints on the activities that took place, but form a bond as they both hunt for answers.
"A time traveling masterwork. A ravishing romance. A great love story. David Leveaux's celebrated revival is emotionally exuberant. "
Newsday
Linda Winer
"Tom Stoppard's masterpiece. An exquisite revival."
New York Magazine
Scott Brown
"Arcadia has an emotional depth, viscerally rooted, to support its intellectual shimmer"
The New York Times
Ben Brantley