Editing Arcadia (play) (section)

==Reception==
''[[The Times]]'', reviewing the first production in 1993, praised it as a "perfect marriage of ideas and high comedy".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Nightingale|first=Benedict|author-link=Benedict Nightingale|date=14 April 1993|title=Ideas meet their comic match|journal=The Times|location=London}}</ref> But for some, the ideas overwhelmed the comedy: "[T]oo clever by about two-and-three-quarters," noted critic [[Jack Tinker]]. "One comes away instructed with more than one can usefully wish to know."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tinker|first=Jack|author-link=Jack Tinker|date=14 April 1993|title=Another lesson in whims and conceit at the knee of too-clever Mr Stoppard|journal=Daily Mail|location=London}}</ref> After an eight-month run at the National, the play's transfer to the West End gave an opportunity for re-appraisal. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' critic commented: "I have never left a play more convinced that I had just witnessed a masterpiece".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Spencer|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Spencer (journalist)|date=26 May 1994|title=Stoppard's thrilling workout|journal=The Daily Telegraph|location=London}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the play as "Tom Stoppard's richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and, new for him, emotion".<ref name="canbynyt">{{cite news | first=Vincent | last=Canby | author-link=Vincent Canby |title=Theatre Review: Arcadia; Stoppard's Comedy Of 1809 and Now | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/31/theater/theater-review-arcadia-stoppard-s-comedy-of-1809-and-now.html?scp=1 | work=The New York Times | date=31 March 1995 | access-date=3 April 2008}}</ref> But other New York reviews were mixed or unfavourable, complaining of the anachronisms and lack of realism.{{sfn|Fleming|2008|p=82}} The production left [[John Simon (critic)|John Simon]] of ''[[New York (magazine)|New York Magazine]]'' with the view that "Stoppard overdoes it…''Arcadia'' makes better reading than seeing".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Simon|first1=John|title=Wits' End|journal=New York Magazine|date=10 April 1995|page=74}}</ref> The book review website The Pequod rated the play a 10.0 (out of 10.0), saying "''Arcadia'' combines an astonishing range of disparate elements — romance, humor, tragedy, sorrow, scientific history, and even gardening — into an entirely unique work of art."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arcadia {{!}} The Pequod |url=https://the-pequod.com/books/arcadia |access-date=2022-10-19 |website=the-pequod.com}}</ref>

The 2009 London revival prompted more critics to laud the play as "Stoppard's finest work".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=198&story=E8831244481126&title=Review%20Round-up:%20Critics%20Hail%20Stoppard%27s%20Arcadia|title=Critics Hail Stoppard's ''Arcadia''|last=Bosanquet|first=Theo|work=Review Round-up|publisher=Whatsonstage.com|quote=confirms the status of the play as Stoppard's "finest work".|access-date=1 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810010709/http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=198|archive-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' that the play "gets richer with each viewing. ... [T]here is poetry and passion behind the mathematics and metaphysics."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Billington|first=Michael|date=5 June 2009|title=Review: Arcadia|journal=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/jun/05/review-theatre-arcadia-duke-of-yorks-london?intcmp=239}}</ref> [[Johann Hari]] of ''[[The Independent]]'' speculated that ''Arcadia'' would be recognised "as the greatest play of its time".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/is-tom-stoppards-arcadia-the-greatest-play-of-our-age-1688852.html|title=Is Tom Stoppard's Arcadia the greatest play of our age?|last=Hari|first=Johann|date=22 May 2009|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=1 December 2010|location=London|quote=Standing above them all, making the case for the entire genre [of 'plays of ideas'], is perhaps the greatest play of its time: Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. }}</ref>

The 2011 Broadway staging met with a mixed reception. [[Ben Brantley]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the production "a half-terrific revival of Mr. Stoppard's entirely terrific ''Arcadia''", noting that "several central roles are slightly miscast", and "some of the performances from the Anglo-American cast are pitched to the point of incoherence."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/theater/reviews/arcadia-by-tom-stoppard-on-broadway-review.html?ref=arts&pagewanted=all|title=Theater Review; The 180-Year Itch, Metaphysically Speaking|last=Brantley|first=Ben|date=18 March 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=19 March 2011}}</ref> Similar concerns were raised by critics from the ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine, ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'', ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'', ''[[Time Out New York]]'' and [[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg News]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://broadwayworld.com/article/Broadway_Review_Roundup_ARCADIA_20110317|title=Broadway Review Roundup: ARCADIA|date=18 March 2011|work=BroadwayWorld.com|access-date=19 March 2011}}</ref>