Great Books – Arcadia by Tom Stoppard; discussed by Rebecca Nesvet

To celebrate World Book Day, Rebecca Nesvet, senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Gloucestershire, has chosen to discuss Tom Stoppard’s 1993 play, Arcadia. “Judged the greatest modern British play by Independent columnist Jonathan Hari, Arcadia follows the adventures of fictional Regency prodigy Lady Thomasina Coverley and her increasingly bewildered private tutor Septimus Hodge through a maze of farce, wordplay, romance and tragedy. In the following century, Thomasina and Septimus are joined by a group of modern scholars of various disciplines in pursuit of the answer to the greatest question: when people are not wholly in charge of their destinies, random events happen, and the world might end in total chaos, why do we bother to learn, love, or live? Stoppards Arcadia is, more than any text I can think of, the universe in paper covers. As such, it inspired my first attempts at playwriting, and continues to challenge me as a writer and as a teacher of playwriting in the Field of Creative Writing at the University of Gloucestershire.”

Find out more about the University of Gloucestershire’s Creative Writing course at http://www.glos.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/wt/

Duration : 0:5:8

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Technorati Tags: chaos, creative writing, drama, English, farce, maths, modern, plays, Playwriting, romance, science, Stoppard, tragedy

Tagged with: chaos • creative writing • drama • English • farce • maths • modern • plays • Playwriting • romance • science • Stoppard • tragedy

Filed under: Creative Writing Course

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