Deep Dish Theater Company brings two time periods together in 'Arcadia'

Audience members may find themselves surprised they are watching one play instead of two with Deep Dish Theater Company’s latest performance.

Two casts set in two different time periods perform simultaneously on stage for Tom Stoppard’s acclaimed comedy “Arcadia.”

Having sold out their first two nights, Deep Dish Theater Company has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from their intricate performance.

Featuring a group of diverse characters and an intelligent girl on the verge of changing the future, the show is a part of the theater company’s 13th season at University Mall.

Set only in an English country home, “Arcadia” takes place in both 1809 and the present.

The play documents a turn of events involving a tutor, his gifted student and an incompetent poet. The investigation of these events, which occurred in 1809, is led by two English scholars and a short-tempered mathematician in modern times.

Director Paul Frellick said he has admired the play for a long time.

“It’s one of those plays that just seems to be about everything,” he said. “I find it exciting, exhilarating, and it makes me want to be smarter.”

Frellick also said that he finds it interesting to watch research being done, particularly to marvel at each character’s techniques and to notice their shortcomings.

“‘Arcadia’ is distinctive because (the) completely cerebral and intellectual plot allows it to discuss more than the one theme that most plays are confined to,” said Karin Bagan, property creator for “Arcadia.”

With the play constantly shifting between two different eras on the same set, Bagan said she has had difficulty hand-making the same props to look both new and 200 years old for each of the time periods in “Arcadia.” She also said she has enjoyed the experience, especially working with Frellick as a director.

“It’s a show that is incredibly intricate in the way it is put together,” said Adam Sampieri, an “Arcadia” cast member and theater teacher at N.C. School of Science and Mathematics.

“Every piece of dialogue comes back again within the context of the show, so we might have a punch line in our cast that was set up in the 1809 cast.”

Sampieri also said that because of the interdependency between the two casts, he has to be word perfect with the script so that later events do not confuse the audience.

He said the play, which opened last Friday, is an incredibly challenging performance, but especially rewarding for the audience to see come to fruition.

“We’ve had overwhelming positive feedback,” Frellick said.

“It’s great fun to sit through because these (characters) have great things to say, so you just buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.”

arts@dailytarheel.com