Arcadia,Tom Stoppards farcical play that explores major questions of science, art and history – and how they intersect and impact human relationships – will be performed at the University of Notre DamesMarieP.DeBartoloCenterfor the Performing Arts from April 12 (Tuesday) to April 23 (Saturday).
The performance schedule and ticket information are available on the Web at http://performingarts.nd.edu/fttp.shtml .
Directed by award-winning Chicago-based director Jay Paul Skelton,Arcadiamerges seemingly unrelated themes – such as love and the second law of thermodynamics, the notion of entropy and the force of sexual desire, and iterated algorithms and literary scandal surrounding Lord Byron – to demonstrate the unpredictability and chaotic nature of the human condition.
Scenes inArcadiaalternate between the 19 th and 20 th centuries, converging at the end of the play when characters from the present day come to understand clues left from the past.
The production of Arcadia was supported by the Arts and Letters and Science Honors Program, the Boehnen Fund for Excellence in the Arts, the Department of Physics, First Year of Studies, School of Architecture, and an anonymous benefactor.
Because of the varied interdisciplinary themes presented inArcadia,the play serves as a vehicle for exploring issues relevant to undergraduate study.These topics, ranging from romantic poetry and 18 th century architecture to chaos theory and fractals, have been incorporated into the syllabi of several classes to provide a shared point of reference for students across disciplines. The academic integration ofArcadiaspans several liberal arts departments as well as those of math and science.
The themes ofArcadiaalso will be the focus of an academic conference to be held April 22 and 23 in McKenna Hall.
TitledArcadia at Notre Dame: Nature, Science and Art,the conference is sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters, College of Science, Graduate School, and the Arts and Lettersand Science Honors Program.A complete conference schedule can be found at http://www.nd.edu/%7Earcadia/events.html .
In addition, the Universitys Snite Museum of Art is offering a special exhibition onArcadia,further linking an arts performance with teaching opportunities.
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