Anyway, how many of you read plays? Well if you do I was definitely not one of you. Sure I have read Shakespeare and other plays for classes but I have never, once, read a play on my own. For fun. That was until last weekend. I read Arcadia.
Before I get into the nitty gritty parts of this review-ish thing, I have some things to clear up. I don't read plays outside of class, but my room mate this year is a theater geek. She loves everything about theater and she has introduced me to so many other theater geeks. A few weeks ago my they forced me to have the play Arcadia by Tom Stoddard. Now I put off reading it for a while but this past weekend I sat down to read it and surprised myself by loving it.
The play takes place in a mansion during two time periods, the nineteenth and twentieth century. It follows a group historians/scientists and the original owners of the house. As the play unfolds it focuses on the intricacies of romance, mathematics, and sex within the universe. Really it is quite profound but oh so lovely at the same time.
The reasons I love the play? So many. The characters are funny and the slowly meshing time periods is intriguing and unique. I also love the setting. It is set in an old mansion of which I have a slight obsession with. At some point in my life I will see an actual castle and these kinds of stories remind me of how much I need to do that. Can I also say that the play is funny. You would not think that of something that deals with the meaning of life/reasoning or the universe but this play has a fair amount of humor in it. It really balances out the sweetness of the ending.
Ah the ending got me. It is the perfect, bittersweet moment. I simply love how well it is all wrapped up in a nice tidy bow. You will have to read it to know what I am talking about.
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