Ohio Wesleyan to Present Award-Winning ‘Arcadia’
Tom Stoppard’s Witty Comedy Scheduled for Four Performances Oct. 8 through Oct. 10
Thomasina coaxes Septimus away from his reading: Gabriel Caldwell, left, is Septimus Hodge and Maeve Nash is Thomasina Coverly in Ohio Wesleyan University’s production of ‘Arcadia.’ (Photo by Alanna Easley)
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University’s Department of Theatre & Dance will present four performances of Tom Stoppard’s award-winning “Arcadia” between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10. The witty comedy intertwines science, literature, and human relationships as it follows two sets of family and friends – both at the same English country house but separated in time by two centuries.
Performances will begin at 8 p.m. Oct. 8, 9, and 10, with a special Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Oct. 10. All shows will be held inside OWU’s Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
Upon the play’s release, New York Times writer Vincent Canby said: “There’s no doubt about it. ‘Arcadia’ is Tom Stoppard’s richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and … emotion. It’s like a dream of levitation: you’re instantaneously aloft, soaring, banking, doing loop-the-loops and then, when you think you’re about to plummet to earth, swooping to a gentle touchdown of not easily described sweetness and sorrow.”
When “Arcadia” debuted in London in 1993, it earned the Laurence Olivier Award and the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play. When it opened in New York in 1995, it won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. Stoppard also won four Tony Awards and an Academy Award for his screenplay “Shakespeare in Love.”
Ohio Wesleyan’s production of “Arcadia” is directed by theatre professor Edward Kahn. Set design is by OWU technical director Chadwyn Knutson; lighting design is by theatre professor D. Glen Vanderbilt Jr.; and costume design is by OWU costume shop manager Jacqueline Shelley with assistance from OWU junior Emily Poltor of Columbus, Ohio, and sophomore Adriana Rodriguez of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Stage management is by OWU senior Sarah Shulman of Brooklyn, New York.
Seniors Margot Reed of Brooklyn and Maeve Nash of Springfield, Virginia, play mother and daughter, Lady Croom and Thomasina Coverly, in the scenes set in the early 1800s. Junior Gabriel Caldwell of Columbus, Ohio, plays Septimus Hodge, Thomasina’s tutor. In the scenes set in the present, junior Reginald Hemphill of Cincinnati portrays Bernard Nightingale, and the role of researcher Hannah Jarvis is shared by senior Hannah Simpson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and sophomore Rachel Scherrer of Sebastopol, California, who will alternate performances. The cast features a total of 14 Ohio Wesleyan students.
General admission for this and all Ohio Wesleyan Theatre & Dance productions is $10, and admission for senior citizens, OWU faculty/staff, and non-OWU students is $5. Admission is free for Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid university ID. Call (740) 368-3855 for reservations, or visit https://www.owu.edu/academics/departments-programs/department-of-theatre-dance/ for more details.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 86 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,675 students represent 43 U.S. states and territories and 33 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.