By Tom McHenry
Staff Writer

The Purdue theater department is presenting a play about landscape architecture.

Luckily, though, for audience members who aren't landscape architects by trade, there's far more to Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia."

Stoppard, whose "Shakespeare in Love" won the Academy Award for Best Picture last year, has been long known as one of the premiere British playwrights.

"Arcadia" is a departure from Stoppard's many Shakespearean-themed works such as "Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead" and "The 15-Minute Hamlet." The play brings together math theory and human relationships with a wide variety of other subjects to show the chaos that surrounds human relationships.

The plot takes place in the same drawing room over two centuries. Characters in the present try to discover what happened to the characters in the past through a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards.

Though the entire setting is made up of a single room, "Arcadia" covers a broad range of subject matter.

"This is a very packed play with lots of references — references to science, mathematics, literature and even landscape architecture," said Kristine Holtvedt, associate professor of theater and director of "Arcadia."

Jennifer Fitzery, a graduate student and assistant director, said that actors had to become well versed in their references so they could talk about the references comfortably and believably in character.

With so many subjects intertwined with a complex and twisting plot, the audience could easily be lost. But, Holtvedt said, "Nobody needs to be an expert in chaos theory to enjoy it.

"This is a language play. You really have to listen to understand it," Holtvedt said. She also said that this distinguishes "Arcadia" from other plays where the theme and plot can be grasped from just watching the action.

Fitzery said the popularity of British sitcoms in America shows that British humor can find its mark in an American college audience.

Fitzery said that much of the challenge of the production was trying to display changes from the present into the authentic past. Actors were coached in proper dialect for the era and worked with body language and stature

Costumes and scenery of the 19th century were also painstakingly recreated by the production's design team. Holtvedt said this clarifies time shifts in the play.

"Arcadia" is the final main-stage production of Purdue Theater's season. "Arcadia" opens at 8 tonight at the experimental theatre in Stewart Center and runs until April 22, with the exception of April 17. Tickets are $7 for students, $11 for non-students.