Arcadia

(Duke of York's Theatre, 12 June 2009)

"Arcadia" is as aesthetically close to mathematics as literature ever gets. The play is precise, elegant, and ends with a hope.

Generating knowledge, inspiring knowledge, and recovering lost knowledge lead to, if not immortality, then at least serenity. One finds it necessary to justify the dissemination of knowledge no more than one finds it necessary to justify other primitive instincts: eating or fighting for one's life. Yet, these other primitive instincts are the means for fulfilling the instinct for sharing knowledge, which benefits many, the union of whom is the ultimate organism, on the immortality of which one is wise to bet in one's conduct.

All useful knowledge must eventually be written in mathematics, which is defined to be any logically tight argument. A literary project is akin to one in pure mathematics in that either project is guided by its creator's good taste, even though the project's application may not be apparent at the time of its creation. Yet, good taste---an eye for simplicity---is the anticipation, even if unconscious, of future applications. Good taste is refined and tested by wisely chosen intellectual companions.

Superficially, science is about creations, whereas literature is about creators. Should not posterity care only about the creation, not the identity its creator, the trivia of his biography, and the circumstances of his labour? The biography is the manual to the creative process and fulfilling life, and in this the biography is valuable. When the biography merely exploits the cult of celebrity among the better educated, however, it has little value beyond entertainment.

Tom Stoppard's writing, David Leveaux's direction, and the company's performances are impeccable. Ed Stoppard's performance is definitive of character acting.