Review: Arcadia

Hopes were high for the success of this deeply intelligent story being performed in such a fitting location: sadly, The Tab was left somewhat disappointed.

An idyllic setting

Walking into the beautiful gardens of Magdalen College, one couldn’t hope for a better setting for Tom Stoppard’s quintessentially English play.

We were met by Thomasina (Julia Gibbon) and Septimus Hodge (Ben Goldstien) dressed in charming period costume as the sun was setting on an unusually clear summer’s evening.

The play got off to a punchy start with Ben Goldstein delivering a fantastic performance as the sharp and eccentric Septimus Hodge. However, as the play went on and the temperature dropped so did the quality of the performance.

The play really lost pace with slow transitions from scene to scene and stilted delivery. This was not helped by Bernard Nightingale who clearly struggled with remembering his lines throughout.

Golden Goldstein (left) 

Other than Goldstein, it was the female actors who really dominated. Susannah Cohen (Chloe) is clearly a natural comedian and Ellie Page (Lady Croome) and Mary Clapp (Hannah) had real presence.

However, there were issues all round with projection, leaving many of the play’s brilliant repartees lacking lustre. Unfortunately, it was the ducks flying onto the stage in the middle of the performance that got the biggest laugh of the night.

The production itself was also unimaginative. No fault could be found with the costumes and props and of course the set was there ready-made. However, more could have been done with the staging. The script, with its interplay between past and present gives so much opportunity for interesting direction, yet the interpretation was somewhat ordinary.

Overall, a truly wonderful script was not done justice, in a fairly uninspiring production. Despite real talent on stage, arcadia was just out of reach…