Arcadia

by Tom Stoppard

Oklahoma City University

Directed by Hal Kohlman

December 2019

2020 KCACTF Region Six- Student Choice Award 

Lighting Design by Nicholas Villemarette

Costume Design by Alix Phelan

Sound Design by Jacob Henry

Technical Direction by Luke Hadsall

One of the key themes in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia is the concept of entropy, which focuses on randomness and the uncertain, ever-expanding nature of the universe. Because this concept is so prevalent, we wanted to find a way to incorporate it into the scenery. Our production of Arcadia also focused on emphasizing the non-linear and serendipitous nature of the story itself in all of the areas of design. For the scenery, we chose to highlight how the house serves as a liminal space between two time periods while also abstracting parts of it away to show the complicated and chaotic changes that time creates. The room itself is neutral and sparsely furnished, without placing anything too heavily in either time period. As the set extends towards the edges of the stage, it starts to dissolve and break apart. Pieces of the walls shatter and hang suspended in the air, and the wood floors fizzle out into black nothingness: nothing exists outside of this singular room. The actors never crossed the line created by this effect, which cemented the idea that this room exists on some other plane of existence entirely. 

Design Process

Paint and Construction Process

Floor Treatment Process