Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

From its first line, "what is carnal embrace?," ARCADIA brilliantly intermixes sex, mathematics, romance and landscape architecture in a contemporary comic drama that deftly travels from today's England back to the time of the wild poet Lord Byron. All in pursuit of desire--desire for love, desire for fame, and the desire for simply knowing how it all turns out. Part mystery, part history - all engrossing intrigue. Filled with Stoppard's (author of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Shakespeare in Love) shining wit and darting intelligence, ARCADIA is considered one of the greatest plays written in the last twenty years.
Directed by Robert Estes (well known for his "Grove Talks" before performances at California Shakespeare Theatre), last seen at AE helming George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House" in January of 2011. He has also directed Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class for AE", "Other People's Money" for Masquers' in Point Richmond, as well as numerous staged readings around town. With Paul Stout as Septimus Hodge, sterling newcomer Alona Bach as Thomasina Coverly, Christopher Kelly as Bernard Nightingale, Rachel Ferensowicz as Chloe Coverly, Aaron Lindstrom as Valentine Coverly, Shifra Pride Raffel as Lady Croom, and Jody Christian as Hannah Jarvis. Also featuring Barry Eitel, Matthew Surrence, Al Badger, Greg Estes, Cameroon Dodd, Anthony Sorrels-Jager, and Greer Janesen. With costumes by Hilary Seeley, music composed by Richard Herrera-Lopez, lighting design by Alecks Rundell, set design by Jerome Solberg and Gunnar Ellam, graphic design by Human Fiction, and set construction by Bob Gudmundsson, Alecks Rundell, Joyce Huang, Justin Scott, Adam Silva, Hugh Carlson, and Vicki Siegel. Program by Jamie Wei.
Performances are Friday and Saturday, Jan 20th through Feb. 18th at 8:00 pm. with a matinee on Sunday, Feb. 12th at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. There is a special rate of $10 for groups of 15 or more. Tickets are available through the Actors Ensemble of Berkeley website www.aeofberkeley.org