The actors of Arcadia discuss their intimate and personal connections to the production and to their characters.
Chaon Cross (Lady Croom)
Due to my extensive background in mathematics it is difficult for me to pay much attention to anything else in this play. I suspect that there is something to do with passion, longing and the unpredictability of human nature. Alright. I’m kidding. I dropped out of AP Calculus my third year of high school. What I identify with in this play is the uncertainty that the characters feel. I identify with passion and heat. I understand how one moment feeds into the next and therefore unpredictability is part of a grand equation that makes up the world we live in. I believe that the present moment helps define future outcomes, and that by surrendering to it we begin to see a bigger picture. Or maybe we will never see the bigger picture, but we will always be looking…
Kate Fry (Hannah Jarvis)
Tom Stoppard. Not for the faint of heart. Yes, the characters are brilliant, much smarter and more charismatic than any of us are on our best days. None of us in this play can pretend otherwise. But then there’s the notion of “questing,” something that every character in this play is doing. Doggedly pursuing something—a publishable idea, a soul mate, a mathematical solution, a sexual conquest—this is something that even we dumb un-Stoppardian mortals can relate to. We have all experienced that singularity of thought and purpose. Sometimes it is our better angels pursuing the quest, sometimes our worst demons. But no one is too cool to have not gotten caught up in something. And the path of our pursuit never follows a straight line. There are always surprises and obstacles/setbacks. What I find really fascinating in the play is that those difficult and prickly moments—those instances when the questing isn’t going the way the character wants it to go—are theripest opportunities for deep connection between people. Just when you think the play is only about determinism versus free will, boom: there is tenderness. And whimsy. And love.
Torrey Hanson (Jellaby)
Acting on stage for me is first and foremost about serving a play. There may exist some similarities between me and the character I am portraying; I dwell little on them. Theater is a state of wakefulness. The nuts and bolts of performing—making an entrance, playing a scene, listening to the show backstage—these I approach more like a cheerleader for the play than an actor in it; my real contribution is my will. A play is a living organism, the script its recipe. A play spoken as written, its hints about movement and behavior followed honestly, conjures a living, breathing thing; that thing hovers a little above the action, makes everything glow; the sound of an audience listening to it is the most glorious thing in the world. It always helps, of course, to have a great play to start with. Arcadia stirs that rarest of affinities in actors and audiences: affection. Stoppard’s own affection for history, for words, for ideas cannot help but make us feel the same. Arcadia‘s first “present-day” is 23 years past, yet as it’s brought to life at Writers and for generations to come, its past and present will be now. Each time it is spoken, it will always awaken.
Callie Johnson (Chloë Coverly)
I am the historian of the family; I’m the girl that has an entire wall in my house dedicated to old family pictures. One side for my mother’s family, the other side for my father’s, along with various other trinkets (such as my great-grandfather’s WWI helmet), clocks and photographs throughout the house. My father’s grandfather was full blooded Native American Indian. He was a part of a tribe in Wisconsin called the Brothertown Indians. This was (and still is) a melting-pot tribe. In the early 19th century, members of such tribes as the Pequot, Mohegan and Oneida (originally from the New York area) converted to Christianity, formed the new tribe of Brothertown Indians, and relocated to Fond du Lac, WI, under pressure from the U.S. government. They were the first tribe to accept U.S. citizenship. My great-grandfather, Frank Johnson, owned a cigar shop. My mother’s side of the family is 100% Norwegian. My great-grandparents came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s. My grandparents owned a restaurant/hunting club near Norway, Illinois. King Olav V of Norway came and dined there in the early 60s, as did Walter Schirra, one of the original prime crew members who walked the moon in 1969. I find myself completely captivated by my family history—I am so fascinated that each and every one of their happenstance meetings turned into marriages, turned into children, which turned into me. Their story is my story, and I am so proud to share it with them.
Scott Parkinson (Bernard Nightingale)
Well, I’m somewhat chagrined to confess it, but the professional rivalry and jealousy that Bernard experiences in Arcadia is all too familiar to me. The need to stand out in an over crowded field and find a way to make an impression is something I experience on a daily basis living in New York City, where there are about 1,000 brilliantly capable actors for every one role available. The temptation to obsess over just the perfect combination of elements one needs in order to achieve runaway success can be strong, while also keeping a sense of one’s own worth as you watch others hit that particular and proverbial jackpot (much in the way Bernard watches Hannah do it with the success of her book). What excites me about playing Bernard is that he handles this professional rivalry so much differently than I usually do: with an overweening self-confidence that would be appalling if he wasn’t so charming, and an unfailing panache and flair for the dramatic. It’s an important reminder in taking on any of Stoppard’s roles that beneath the nearly impenetrable erudition one can find on the page lie all too recognizable passions and frailties. I had the good fortune to work with Tom on his trilogy The Coast of Utopia years ago at Lincoln Center, and it is one of the great regrets of my life that I didn’t record every single note session he gave to the company—pearls of acting and writing wisdom mixed with insightful and delightfully wicked anecdotes about theatrical luminaries past and present came trippingly from his tongue at every sitting. We sat spellbound by that mind and that wit. But what Tom also has—that often gets missed—is a huge and beautiful heart, and I think that heart is wonderfully on display in Arcadia. One of my duties in the show was to cover for Billy Crudup in one of the leading roles, and I got to go on for him at two of the marathon performances over the course of the run (all three parts of the trilogy were performed in a single day on Saturdays). Tom was back in the UK by then and never got to see me play the role, but I will never forget the experience of being out for sushi with a friend one night in NY shortly after going on when I received a phone call from an “Unknown Number,” I let it go to voicemail, and as my friend and I waited for the bill later on, I decided to listen to the mysterious message, at which point I heard the by-now familiar mixture of British plumminess with a slightly Czech cadence come pouring through my phone’s speaker: Tom had called to personally let me know that he’d heard how “smashing” I’d been in the part and to congratulate me. To me this is a perfect example of the gentleman and scholar that Tom is, and of the generosity of mind and spirit that informs his work.
Christopher Sheard (Valentine Coverly)
A few months back, I was planning a trip to Disney with my beautiful girlfriend for her birthday. I was saving money, telling my Florida family and friends, but more importantly I was getting excited. I was focused on the rides we would go on, where we would stay, who we would see, how many days to spend at the hotel or with my family—I even bought a newer, more reliable car to get us there. It was the perfect gift. There was one problem: when would we possibly have the time to pull this off? Adding it up, we counted a day to get there, 3 days at Disney, 2 days at Universal, plus a day in Jacksonville to see my sister and a day in Daytona to see my parents totaling a week and a half of vacation. When we both looked at our schedules in the coming months, we found our plan too good to be true. Like some of the characters in Arcadia, I worked myself up and was committed to this idea that was impossible. I found myself with a disillusioned idea of reality: a beautiful yet unattainable reality.
Elizabeth Stenholt (Thomasina Coverly)
Actors may sheepishly or exuberantly admit falling into seemingly real relationships with characters they play. I have fallen for many characters, but Thomasina holds a very special place in my heart. She is a kindred spirit; a romantically curious and cautious young lady with a knack for getting just under the skin of those around her. Mind you she does this with little or no effort and I love being mixed up in her complex world. I envy the manner in which she navigates life with an amazing natural understanding. When this experience is over I will miss Thomasina, and her quick wit. I hope you enjoy this play with those around you and that you will take time to question and try to make sense of the chaos.
Rod Thomas (Ezra Chater)
The closest I ever came to making a hole-in-one was a result of a terrible tee shot. I hit the ball way left where it hit a tree. The ball ricocheted off the tree, plopped onto the green and began rolling right at the hole. All I could think was, “dear God, don’t let it go in!” Imagine if it had. If you had seen my scorecard, you would have assumed I had hit a hell of a shot. Some folks, like Ezra Chater, just want the score, no matter what. I want the score, too, but with the satisfaction of knowing it was a result of my accomplishment. Of course, it’s a better story to make the ace off the tree.
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