Review: ARCADIA is A Dance Between Science And Sensitivity as Academics Expose The Predictability and Chaos Of Humanity

Thursday 25th February 2016, 8pm, The Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Intertwining Romanticism and Reason, Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA explores two worlds, inhabiting the same space, two centuries apart. Director Richard Cottrell brings this thought provoking commentary on life, love and logic to the Sydney Theatre Company stage to round out the trio of Stoppard's work Andrew Upton has selected during his tenure as Artistic Director.

The broad Drama Theatre stage at Sydney Opera House is set as a great hall within Sidley Park, a grand manor in Derbyshire. Michael Scott-Mitchell has created A stately room that overlooks the expansive estate and has simply furnished it with a long table, littered with the accoutrements of academia, and a tortoise. A stand, designed to hold books and manuscripts, sits inside the centre French window, overlooking the parklands beyond the terrace.

Costume designer Julie Lynch provides the visual demarcation between 1809 and 2009 as Scott-Mitchell's set remains unchanged with the passage of time. Old world Thomasina Coverly (Georgia Flood) is dressed to reflect the 14 year old daughter of the house in empire line dress and petticoats covered by a pinafore. Her tutor, Septimus Hodge(Ryan Corr), in breeches and hunting boots, expresses a life enjoying the country location of his occupation but not of significant social rank. In contrast, the contemporary inhabitants are typical of the 21st century in casual attire, the only exception being the professor, Bernard Nightingale (Josh McConville), in his tweed three piece suit.

The intertwined stories explore humanity as the two generations explore science and history, with a liberal distraction of lust and love. The young Thomasina is remarkably bright and is being educated in maths and science while the contemporary Valentine Coverly (Michael Sheasby) is also a student of maths and science. The old world Sidley Park plays host to a multitude of house guests, many of which create a complex web of carnality. The contemporary inhabitants prepare to fill the estate with a party as a number of its inhabitants mirror their ancestors antics, harbouring desires and being discovered in flagrante in the greenhouse. As mysteries are solved, the patterns prove the science in a particularly human way.

Flood presents Thomasina as a precocious child, born of wealth, that teeters between the desire for idle gossip, the need to be seen as sophisticated and grown up, a dislike of application but still bearing an inquisitive mind. At times the character, and the expression, stretch the bounds of believability as actions and text are are incongruent.

Corr however captures the balance between the scholar, employed to educate and deemed of enough standing to criticise and the young man taking advantage of the opportunities of his current position. He has the dismissive tone of one trying to avoid being drawn into Thomasina's gossip whilst still showing interest when she does apply herself and want to learn. The direction however lets both Corr and the character down in not adequately expressing the shift in Septimus' affections, and therefore downplaying the key to the mystery Hannah Jones (Andrea Demetriades) is trying to unravel.

Most of the characters have an arrogance which results in them being cold and not particularly likeable and therefore reducing what could be a really engaging and heart wrenching plot. The performances don't give the characters depth in their expression to convey unspoken desires and motivations making it hard to want to care beyond the interest of the expression of the scientific principals explained through human behaviour rather than traditional scientific examples.

ARCADIA is an interesting exploration of scientific theories through the proposal that they were first uncovered by a young girl pondering her lessons. The connection between physics and human behaviour and some of the explanations of science may make traditionally dry theories more accessible to the less scientifically minded that have tried to understand Chaos Theory and the Second Law of Thermodynamics and previously failed.

ARCADIA
The Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
8 February - 2 April 2016