Cast and Director Interview: Arcadia
the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre’s creative team on favorite scenes, bookish natures, and the advantages of the stage
In preparation for the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre’s showing of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, I had the opportunity to ask the director and two cast members a few questions about the show, its usage of books, and their enduring love for theatre. Their answers, much like Stoppard’s play, delighted and intrigued me in ways I was not prepared for. Arcadia will be showing April 19–22 at the Arthur Miller Theatre on North Campus, tickets and info at a2ct.org.
Literati will be providing a $25.00 gift card and two free coffee vouchers as door prizes for the evening shows taking place Thursday through Saturday. If you purchase tickets for one of these performances, you will automatically be entered to win! Plus, you’ll get to witness an outstanding play!
Melissa Freilich, Director
Tell us about Arcadia.
Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, is a play set in an English country house, bouncing between 1809 and the present day. In 1809 there’s a lot happening, duels and affairs and great discoveries about math and the universe. In the present day, scholars dig through the ephemera of the house to try to figure out what really happened, while the audience gets to see for themselves.
What makes this play unique?
Arcadia is considered one of the greatest plays of our age and the finest play written in our lifetime. While famous playwright may be a contradiction in terms, Tom Stoppard is well known for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and for the screenplays for Shakespeare in Love and Anna Karenina, among others. No other play brings together Byron’s poetry, chaos mathematics, garden history and many other topics. Arcadia does it with humor and poignancy.
What types of readers might enjoy viewing Arcadia?
Arcadia is a play for book lovers. If you like nonfiction and learning something new in an entertaining way, you’ll learn a lot. If you like British humor, or the novels of Jane Austen, you’ll love the costumes, accents and dry humor. If you like smart comedy, like John Oliver or The Importance of Being Earnest, you’ll find a lot to love. If you like drama, duels and affairs (think Hamilton) there’s plenty of that too. If you’re a poetry lover, Byron is brought to vivid life in this play without ever appearing onstage.
Tell us more about you.
I’m Melissa Freilich and I’m directing Arcadia. I’ve been in Ann Arbor three years, working as a director and fight choreographer and training to become a teacher of the Alexander Technique. I particularly love directing for Ann Arbor Civic Theatre because of the wonderful community and the quality of the performances we produce.
What’s the biggest challenge for the director of Arcadia?
The hardest thing as a director is trying to make the play as clear as possible. It draws on so many different topics and the British humor can be so dry that everyone is bound to miss a few jokes. My goal is to make sure you stay engaged with the story even if the random reference Stoppard is making to Romantic poetry or population biology goes over your head. There’s always another joke or wonderful discovery coming up.
What’s your favorite book?
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
Laura Lilly Cotton, playing Thomasina
Tell us about your character: her likes, dislikes, main motives, etc.
Thomasina is a sassy and excitable teenager who loves drawing and algebra, is bored by Latin and Euclid, and who discovers the second law of thermodynamics. Her interests may be mercurial but her motivation is consistent: to find out.
Is there a moment in the play you love the most?
My favorite part of the play is in scene seven when characters from the two time periods are on stage simultaneously but unaware of each other. At one point the table is a mess of objects from both periods, the four intellectuals are sitting around it studying, and Lady Croom (1809) and Chloe (2018) are barging in and out of doors, yelling. A little later, Septimus (1809) says, “Oh we have time I think,” and Valentine (2018) as if answering says, “ — ’til there’s no time left. That’s what time means.” And while you might agree with Valentine, you are also watching two scenes separated by two hundred years sharing space, and you think, “Wait, how does time actually work?” It’s a question theatre can raise in a way other media can’t.
How did you first get involved in Theatre?
In eighth grade my best friend and I belted Hairspray and Chicago songs all through PE, solidifying our social status for the next five years. Through high school, theatre was a place we could take risks and play and figure things out. This is my first time in a production in a decade, and I’m so thankful to be back.
What might Literati readers enjoy the most about Arcadia?
Arcadia is so smart. Literati readers will like its quick wit, incorporation of diverse topics (Chaos Theory, Romantic poetry, landscape architecture, the struggle to get published!), and heart.
What’s your favorite book?
A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki. Like Arcadia it’s a work that both breaks your heart and sends you off to explore concepts you wouldn’t have otherwise explored.
Kate Umstatter, who plays Hannah
Tell us about your character.
Hannah Jarvis is a writer and researcher; an academic on the hunt for the truth. She is driven by intellectual pursuits which, for her, are matters of the heart.
Do you have a particular scene in Arcadia that hits you the hardest?
I have so many favorite parts! So as to not give too much away, I will simply say that there is a scene where past and present intersect that is completely magical.
How did you get involved with theatre?
Theatre is my first love and I’ve been involved in it since I was a child. I was one of those kids who never wanted to stop playing ‘pretend’. As an adult, I find there is no place more creative and fun than the rehearsal room.
What might Literati readers love about Arcadia?
Literati readers will most likely enjoy the mystery that spans centuries and the esoteric repartee. This is a cast of characters filled with a wild passion for the pursuit of knowledge and it is a joy to watch them collaborate and quarrel.
What is your favorite book?
My favorite books are ever-changing, depending on my interests and tastes. Lately, I can’t get enough of memoir. A recent favorite was Ann Patchett’s, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage.
