Arcadia

Friday night Debbi and I did something we pretty much never do: We went to see a play. Specifically, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, produced by TheatreWorks. We went because when my Dad visited a few months ago he saw an ad that it was upcoming, and that we had to go see it. We just snuck in before it closed on Sunday, getting a pair of tickets for the last Friday show.

The theater is quite nice: Small - about 15 rows plus a balcony - with a large main stage, good acoustics (well, I thought so, anyway), and a coffee shop attached for those who need something at the intermission.

It was easy to see why Dad liked Arcadia: It combines humor, romance, and science. The play is set in two different times, and takes place entirely within a single room in the manor of an estate in England: The early 19th century, the teenaged Thomasina Coverly studies math and science under her tutor, the young Septimus Hodge. Septimus touches off a scandal in the household by romancing the wife of the visiting poet Ezra Chater. Meanwhile, Lady Croom struggles with her gardener, Richard Noakes, over the transformation of the manor's gardens to the new Picturesque style.

In the present day, a pair of scholars - the firm Hannah Jarvis and the overbearing Bernard Nightingale - are investigating the history of the manor and the Coverlys. Hannah is exploring the history of the grounds and garden, and the mysterious hermit who resided there from the 1810s to the 1830s. Bernard is investigating the obscure poet Ezra Chater, who disappeared around 1810, and who may have visited the manor at the same time as the more famous Lord Byron. Hannah also has an ongoing flirtation with both Bernard and with Valentine Coverly, a scientist who is also a member of the family which owns the manor.

Interspersed with these stories are some mathematical and scientific concepts, and how they relate to everyday life: Newtonian mechanics, chaos theory, how science has described the big and the small but not the everyday stuff in between, thermodynamics, romance, lust, greed, and pride. It's quite a handful, but though not every theme is given full attention, all of them contribute to the fullness of the play.

Arcadia also plays with our perception of time, as objects (including a tortoise) appear in both time periods, and one character appears to live in both time periods, in the earlier time as Thomasina's irritating brother Augustus, and in the later as Valentine's shy brother Gus. (This duality is left ambiguous, although had the play been written a bit later Stoppard might have been able to work some developments in quantum mechanics in as well.)

The plot unfolds as a mystery for the characters in the present day, and a drama for those in the past ultimately revealing the secret of the mystery. Everything wraps up fairly neatly in the end, but it's getting there - through Stoppard's deft use of the English language and staging of the scenes - which is the real fun.

The cast of the performance we saw was quite good. Christopher Kelly as Septimus was the standout in the 9th century scenes, while J. Paul Boehmer reminded me strongly of Kenneth Branagh in his performance as Bernard. But Kai Morrison really stole the show, playing Valentine partly as an introverted geek, but also as someone who seemed to grasp the implications of the mysteries and wonders of the play better than any other character.

We had a great time, and left the theater talking about the play while we walked around the neighborhood for a bit. It's fun, funny, and thought-provoking, and worth seeing if it comes your way.

This week has been a little bit peculiar.

I biked in to work yesterday, and just as I hefted my bike to carry it up the steps to the fitness center at the end of the ride, I heard a thump! The bracket which holds the rack over the back wheel of the bike - and on which I hook my bags - had snapped, and the rack no longer stayed upright. Bummer! So I got Syd to drive me home later and I brought my bike home on my car. I'll go out tomorrow and get a new bracket, I think.

Next, Debbi's cats stayed with me Sunday and Monday nights while she was off on business. Last night I sat down to clip the kittens' claws, and when I got to Blackjack's right paw, he meowed when I tried to press out the nail of one paw. I let it go for a while, and came back to it when I'd finished and... the nail was missing! Okay, it looked like the very base of the nail was still there, but the claw the gone and the quick was exposed. Later, I found the claw sitting in the cats' water dish!

I don't know what happened, but other than not wanting me to press on the toe (and, can you blame him?) it didn't seem to bother him. He wasn't limping, wasn't favoring that leg, and was still tearing around the house as usual. Tonight he was licking the paw occasionally - maybe it itches as it's healing. Deb said she'd call her vet and see what they think. I suspect it's just a fluke. Hope so, anyway.

Lastly, tonight was baseball's All-Star Game. Subrata came over to watch the game with Debbi and me, and we hung out, ate some grilled food, and had a good and laid-back time. The American League won the game 9-4, in an unusual high-offense game (pitching is usually dominant in the All-Star Game). It's rarely a good game, but it's always fun to watch and get together with friends.