BWW Blog: Keanna Irving - ARCADIA

For a few evenings during the week, several students change out of their business casual attire and push the rows of desks towards the wall, creating a makeshift rehearsal studio in an empty classroom. Within four brightly painted walls, students create art. They abandon homework for a few hours to direct, rehearse, and produce a play. For the fall of 2016, the King's College has decided to tackle Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. This show simultaneously takes place in 1809 and 1993. The 1993 characters spend their scenes researching and debating the lives, landscape, and literature of 1809 Sidley Park, a place of genius discoveries and scandal. Caitlin Coats, the freshman who plays Hannah, said that this show is "intellectual and absurdist."

This week, the classroom will go unused as a rehearsal space because the Players move uptown to The Producer's Club Sonnet Theatre. What an incredible opportunity it is for college students to be able to perform in the heart of the theatre district, nearby theaters that house shows like Something Rotten and Phantom of the Opera! Coats expressed her enthusiasm, saying: "It's crazy. It's my New York debut and I just never thought it would happen!" While only a few members of the student body will be onstage, the rest of the community will cram into the cozy theatre and cheer on their classmates as they perform this time bending tale of discovery.