Arcadia

[firebunny]

I saw a production of Arcadia last night.  Gosh, I love that play.

Today I don't want to read any books or watch any tv shows.  I just want to think about the themes in Arcadia and whether or not Gus was a time traveler.

Comments

[apeygirl]

Oh my god, I love Arcadia. I love almost everything Tom Stoppard does . I remember feeling sort of haunted by that play when I first read it. But I've never actually seen a production of it. I'd really like to.

[firebunny]

This is the second time I've seen it. The first time was probably more than 15 years or so ago.

I haven't seen/read all of Stoppard's oeuvre, but Arcadia is my favorite of what I'm familiar with. It is haunting. It's also intellectually stimulating and funny and quite poignant. The more I think about it the more I'm able to draw parallels and it's just amazing.

Like a few minutes ago I was thinking about how Thomasina was mourning all the works that were lost when the library of Alexandria burned and Septimus tells her they aren't lost they just haven't been found yet. He says the original works will be found somewhere else or they will be rewritten by someone else. And then Thomasina is lost in a fire, but Hannah finds her writings among Septimus' papers and her mathematical theories have been rewritten by someone else.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the play and probably tear up every time I think about Thomasina. And I do wonder if Gus is a time traveler or a reincarnation of Augustus.

So much to think about.

[apeygirl]

Read or see On The Razzle if you get a chance. It's like a crackfic version of Einen Jux will er sich machen b, the same play Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (or later, Hello, Dolly!) is based on and it's brilliant and surreal and hilarious. I was in it once as elderly "tragic" spinster Miss Blumenblatt and it's still the most fun I've ever had in a production. :)