A fitting tribute to the late Tom Stoppard

Duke of York’s Theatre (premiered at The Old Vic)

Arcadia is widely considered to be Tom Stoppard‘s greatest play. Set in the 1800s and the 1990s, the play covers science, landscape design, writing and human attraction. It fizzes with ideas but is imbued with a strong sense of humanity.

The well received Old Vic production has transferred to the soon-to-be renamed Tom Stoppard Theatre in the West End. Alex Eales‘ has recreated his revolving in-the-round set that shows the two periods panning out in parallel. The critics were largely overwhelmed by the play and Carrie Cracknell‘s production, but some found Stoppard too clever by half. The cast were highly praised, with Isis Hainsworth in particular attracting attention.

Reviews of the West End transfer are immediately below. Those for the original Old Vic production follow. The ratings combine all reviews.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Aliya Al-Hassan, reviewing for LondonTheatre, called it: ‘uncompromising in both scope and ambition. Combining vast subjects such as maths, landscape gardening, scientific theory, sex, and evolving knowledge, Stoppard is unafraid to challenge his audiences with his cerebral agility, yet there is also a huge amount of humour and heart thrown in. Brimming with big ideas, fierce intelligence, and some wonderful performances, Carrie Cracknell’s hit Old Vic production of the play now arrives in the West End.’

Christian Rose for BroadwayWorld opined: ‘Having studied the play extensively and seen numerous productions over the years, I can confidently say this is the finest interpretation I have experienced. Cracknell’s direction is insightful, intelligent and wonderfully inventive, illuminating the layers of Stoppard’s writing while allowing the emotional core of the play to shine.’ She picked out: ‘At the centre of the production is an astonishing performance from Isis Hainsworth as Thomasina Coverly. She captures every facet of the teenage prodigy with breathtaking sensitivity, balancing dazzling intellectual brilliance with youthful innocence, curiosity and vulnerability. Hainsworth’s Thomasina is endlessly captivating, inquisitive, energetic with warmth and humanity.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Caroline McGinn for Time Out stated: ‘Even if its academic arguments sometimes outstay their welcome, it is satisfying and thought-provoking and rare to be able to spend three hours in the company of a drama whose fiery propulsive engine is an unquenchable search for knowledge.’

Alex Wood for WhatsOnStage declared: ‘I have to confess I’ve warmed to the show since its initial outing earlier this year. Where at the Old Vic it felt more distant, abstract and, perhaps, coolly remote, in the snug confines of the Stoppard Theatre, Cracknell’s staging roars with newfound heat and passion. Part of this is thanks to deeper, richer performances from returning cast members: Isis Hainsworth as the young genius Thomasina … Her transformation from wide-eyed 13-year-old 19th-century student to young woman is a masterclass in control and tender love for character. Dillane’s Hodge seems more riveting too – betraying some unspoken sadness while in awe of this young student he knows he has an unquenchable connection to.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Dave Fargnoli of The Stage commented: ‘Stoppard’s funny, melancholy, thought-provoking play of ideas certainly still grips, with its delicate human stories unfolding elegantly across two time periods, interconnected plot strands exploring everything from sexual attraction to the scientific search for truth, to landscape gardening and the heat death of the universe. Cracknell’s sedate pacing leaves the audience plenty of time to sit with each new concept.’

Reviews of Old Vic presentation

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis described the play and the production: ‘This prodigious, teemingly intelligent, breezily witty 1993 play by Tom Stoppard packs in more challenging matter than most writers would attempt in a lifetime but has the seeming effortlessness of pure entertainment. It embraces thermodynamics, poetry, landscape design, sex and much more besides, in parallel timelines set in the 1990s and the early 1800s in one room of a Derbyshire country house. Carrie Cracknell’s superbly cast and elegantly realised in-the-round revival is a fitting tribute to the genius of Stoppard’.

Matt Wolf at The Arts Desk gave the detailed analysis of a devotee: ‘Having been in attendance at Arcadia‘s world premiere at the National some 33 years ago come April, I had always thought I’d never see a staging to match Trevor Nunn’s original…Yet here the play is again, with at least three performers who eclipse all memory of their forbears. And even those who don’t are superb in their own rights, the ensemble working in harmony to foreground feeling amidst the playfulness, fun and scientific and mathematical fodder that inform the text throughout’.

BroadwayWorld‘s Aliya Al-Hassan asked rhetorically: ‘Does it matter if you don’t understand the complex scientific and mathematical theories? Not at all. Carrie Cracknell’s magnificent revival has huge amounts of humour and heart, which is not always a given with Stoppard’s work.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish called it a ‘triumphant return’ for an ‘intellectually thrilling and romantically stirring masterpiece’ that is ‘a spellbinding portrait oif transient, mysterious existence itself.’ He seemed to cope with the blitz of ideas more than some critcs: ‘It all grips like a thriller. The intimacy of Cracknell’s production – presented in-the-round, beneath two elliptical lighting rigs that suggest planets in orbit – creates a sense of magnified scrutiny; you can easily follow the trains of thought and marvel at the clockwork finesse of it all.’

Theo Bosanquet for LondonTheatre noted: ‘In Carrie Cracknell’s stripped-back, in-the-round production, Stoppard’s densely intellectual dialogue is given centre stage, while his dual-era narrative is enriched through subtle and sensitive overlapping.’

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton pointed out: ‘It is also incredibly funny, and its richness lies in the way that its thoughts never compromise its humanity. Instead, they underline them as Stoppard shows chaos and unpredictability at work in human relations too. Sex and people “fancying people they shouldn’t” is another disruptor of the maths of the universe.’ She summed it up as: ‘a multi-faceted gem that glimmers in every light, thought-provoking and profoundly moving. It’s a glory.’

Dave Fargnoli of The Stage praised the cast: ‘Among the large ensemble, Isis Hainsworth stands out as teenage maths prodigy Thomasina with a believable balance of flashing insight, naivety and adolescent emotional spikes, swinging from frothy enthusiasm to tearful desolation in a heartbeat. Seamus Dillane is a fine foil as her tutor Septimus, deploying roguish charm and acerbic wordplay to create an appealingly rakish persona.’ He ended: ‘although the production may lose momentum at times, the script’s interplay of erudition, insouciant wit and relatable human drama is never less than intriguing and engaging.’

The Independent‘s Alice Saville reported on the look: ‘what Cracknell’s staging excels at is weaving together past and present. Designer Alex Eales has turned the Old Vic into an intricate miniature galaxy, with a revolving set whose rings let the cast orbit each other like planetary bodies. There’s a beautiful naturalness to the way that their paths seem set for collision but never quite meet – leaving historical mysteries forever unsolved.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar had ‘the sense of a playwright tossing about complex ideas with such excitement, dexterity and depth that it doesn’t matter whether you understand them. Or up to a point, at least. Everyone here is so clever, from the winningly precocious Thomasina to Stoppard himself that it can make your head hurt’.

The Times’ Clive Davis was less convinced than some about the play’s greatness: ‘There were more than a few moments during this evening when the lengthy disquisitions on the nature of the universe left me feeling as slow and ponderous as the tortoise that serves as one of the mischievous props (…) As in so many of Stoppard’s plays … the characters seem less like rounded individuals than repositories for his ideas.’ He acknowledged: ‘Arcadia does sparkle, especially in the opening scenes…Tutor Septimus Hodge (played with élan by Seamus Dillane) spars with his pupil, Thomasina Coverly, Isis Hainsworth’s portrayal of the young girl is a delight, conveying both innocence and knowingness as she tries to win Septimus’s approval.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

The i’s Fiona Mountford was the harshest critic: ‘Stripped of all décor, the play appears ever more daunting and ever less dramatic and in the underpowered first half of Carrie Cracknell’s production the atmosphere falls dangerously flat. Too often it becomes a seemingly never-ending lecture and we the poor students trapped inside the lecture hall.’

Critics’ average rating 4.0⭑

Value Rating 44 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price)

Arcadia can be seen at The Duke of York’s Theatre until 12 September 2026. Buy tickets directly from the theatre.

If you’ve seen Arcadia at The Old Vic Theatre or the Duke of York’s, please share your review/comment and rating below