Lantern Theater Company Extends ARCADIA Through 11/9

Lantern Theater Company's 21st season-opening production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia has been extended by popular demand and will now close on Sunday, November 9, 2014. The following six performances have been added:

Tuesday, November 4 at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Friday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 8 at 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 9 at 2:00 p.m.

The Lantern's production has enjoyed critical and audience acclaim as well as sold-out houses since its opening earlier this month. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Wendy Rosenfield raved, "This is a fantastic cast, with each link stronger than the next." On WHYY NewsWorks, Howard Shapiro also applauded the cast, describing the acting as "uniformly class-A." CurtainUp's Kathryn Osenlund said, "Lantern Theater Company's smart, rich and resonant production, with its solid design and uniformly excellent cast, rewards the audience's long and intense concentration on Stoppard's tour de force." Phindie's Christopher Munden raved, "The Lantern's Arcadia is a hugely entertaining production, funny and smart, well-acted across the board. This is one of the first productions of the 2014/15 season, but there won't be many better shows in Philadelphia this year." And in the Broad Street Review, Jake Blumgart praised, "In the right hands, Arcadia is a delightful, engaging, and engrossing escapade, and Kathryn MacMillan has the right hands. There isn't a false note in the Lantern Theater's production. The acting is topnotch, without a single dud in the cast. It's impressive stuff, through and through." Philadelphia Daily News' Chuck Darrow joked that Arcadia "holds rewards for those with the patience and intellectual capacity to stay with it. And if you do go, feel free to drop me a line and explain it to me."

Considered by many to be the legendary British playwright's best work and one of the greatest plays of the last 20 years, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia is a tale of two centuries, shifting as seamlessly between eras as it does between farcical comedy and heartbreaking romance. It is 1809 and young Thomasina Coverly is working on geometry and poetry, while her tutor Septimus Hodge is working on her mother. It is also the present day, and Hannah Jarvis and Bernard Nightingale are scholars and sleuths trying to rediscover the events we see unfold in Thomasina's world. This comedy of misunderstandings and misinterpretations is set up against a passionate quest to unravel the mysteries of history, art, science, and love. Arcadia premiered at the Royal National Theatre in 1993 and went on to win several awards, including the Tony, Drama Desk, and Olivier Awards for Best Play.

"Arcadia is one of the most fascinating and engaging plays of my lifetime," says Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon. "It is spectacular proof of the proposition that great theater can change the way we look at the world. The Lantern's mission is to find this kind of work and give it the best possible production, so naturally we are thrilled to have this occasion to extend the run of Arcadia and bring this extraordinary work to more people in our community."

Tickets for upcoming performances of Arcadia are $30 - $39 and are available online at lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. Discounts are available for seniors 65 and up, groups of 10 or more, and U.S. military personnel. $10 student rush tickets are available 10 minutes before curtain with valid ID; cash only. Lantern Theater Company is located at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City Philadelphia.

The Lantern will also explore the play's rich and varied themes during In Arcadia: Celebrating Tom Stoppard's Masterpiece, a four-day festival beginning Thursday, October 23 that will include a keynote discussion with scholars Michael Gamer, Paul Halpern, Emily Hyde and Toby Zinman, a high tea with Dr. Janine Utell, special performances of some of Stoppard's rarely-performed short works, and other experiential events.