We take a look at what is being said about Carrie Cracknell’s revival of Tom Stoppard’s play, running until the 21st March.
WhatsOnStage: **** “The play continues to shine, though – a multi-faceted gem that glimmers in every light, thought-provoking and profoundly moving. It’s a glory.”
The Standard: ***** “Alex Eales’s revolving, circular set deftly illustrates the idea that time cannot be unwound, or jam unstirred from rice pudding, and features two glowing ellipses and a host of celestial spheres above. Cracknell’s production is almost seamless and she has assembled probably the finest cast you’ll see on stage this year.”
The Guardian: *** “the production has an inbuilt exuberance and is invigoratingly realised. It’s like a complicated piece of algebra, exquisite in its difficulties, unsolvable to the end.”
The Reviews Hub: ** 1/2 “Like all Stoppard plays, Arcadia is very, very wordy. This production works best when the pace speeds up, as it does in the second half, with actors able to fully embrace the play’s farcical nature.”
The Stage: **** “Animated by a strong cast, this sprawling, elegiac revival lets Tom Stoppard’s warm, erudite wit shine through.”
The Telegraph: **** “Carrie Cracknell’s revival of the intellectually thrilling and romantically stirring Arcadia is a must-see.”
London Unattached: ***** “With Stoppard recently shuffling off this mortal coil, the author’s literary canonisation is ongoing. His plays certainly tickle the toes of the theatre-going classes, impressing with their erudition and humour, but there is also a much deeper understanding of humanity on display, a holistic view of our triumphs and fallibilities and a way of creating interconnections that illuminate our understanding of the world. This production of Arcadia does justice to this modern masterpiece, allowing the text to speak and its inner poetry to emerge.”
Time Out: **** “A couple of quibbles, but this is Arcadia, man. Imagine seeing this thing at its premiere in 1993 – it must have blown people’s heads off. Now it’s part of the firmament, a known quantity, although its sheer uncompromising cleverness and ambition – combined with Very Good Jokes – means it can still surprise.”
Theatre Vibe: “I can’t praise this intellectual and stellar production highly enough. Carrie Cracknell shows great skill as director and gets brilliant and believable performances from all. Hopefully Sir Tom Stoppard is watching all this from Heaven and realising how much we miss him and his delicious wit. “
The Arts Desk: ***** “Cracknell, too, understands what the best Stoppard productions always have. For all that this writer was punchdrunk on the possibilities of language – here, for instance, setting “Newtonian” against “Etonian” whilst also proffering a potted history in landscape gardening – he equally knows the value of stillness and silence: those moments when verbal byplay leave off and, in Arcadia anyway, we are allowed the opportunity to dance. Or, indeed, to fall in love, however fully “carnal embrace” (the play’s opening image) may in fact lead to ruinous, head-spinning loss.”
London Theatre.co.uk: **** “Even if at points he’s guilty of wearing his learning a little too heavily, and the running time of nearly three hours feels indulgent, Stoppard nevertheless drops pearl after pearl of linguistic brilliance throughout. One particularly bright one is delivered by Septimus, when he compares the history of humanity to a procession: “We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind.” Hearing that now, you’re struck by just how much he has left us to gather.”
All That Dazzles: *** ” There is no doubting the genius involved with Arcadia both in Tom Stoppard’s legendary writing, and Carrie Cracknell’s inspired direction. While it certainly gave my brain a workout trying to piece everything together, I can’t say with all honesty that every element worked for me.”
Theatre & Tonic: **** “From the language of the play, one can very easily sense the author’s intelligence. Its literary quality can be said to outweigh its narrative quality far. Yet precisely because of this, I feel that I still do not know these characters well enough in their more human dimension. Arcadia today may require an audience that enjoys literature, philosophy, and science. Only with such a strong foundation of knowledge can one fully perceive its brilliance. However, even if that is not the case, it is still possible to savor a measure of poetry.”
To book tickets click here.