Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia," Five-Time Tony Award Winner for Best Play, Premieres in Korea

The intellectual mystery "Arcadia" by master playwright Tom Stoppard, who has won the Tony Award for Best Play five times, will have its Korean premiere at the Arko Arts Theater Small Theater in Jongno-gu, Seoul, from July 27 to August 3.

Stoppard holds the record for the most Tony Awards for Best Play. He has received the award five times for "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (1967), "Travesties" (1976), "The Real Thing" (1984), "The Coast of Utopia" (2007), and "Leopoldstadt" (2023), making him the playwright with the most Tony Awards for Best Play in history. Stoppard, a Czech-born British playwright, was knighted in 1997.

"Arcadia" was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 1995 but did not win. Instead, it received the Best Play award at the 1994 Laurence Olivier Awards, often referred to as the British equivalent of the Tony Awards.

Stoppard also wrote the screenplay for the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love," which is the basis for the play currently being performed at the Seoul Arts Center. For "Shakespeare in Love," he won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay in 1998.

"Arcadia" is an intellectual mystery drama that unfolds across two time periods: a country estate in England in 1809 and the modern day in 2025. Set in a 19th-century English country estate, the play depicts a young genius girl, Thomasina, and her tutor, Septimus, as they explore mathematics, science, and literature. In parallel, modern-day researchers investigate traces of the past in the same estate, gradually uncovering the truth. "Arcadia" addresses a wide range of topics, including science (mathematical algorithms, the concept of thermodynamic entropy, fractals), philosophy (determinism, free will), literature (classicist and romanticist movements, Byron), history, art, love, and truth, posing profound questions about human existence and the nature of the universe. It is acclaimed as a masterpiece that exquisitely combines science and art, and was selected by the Royal Institution of Great Britain as the "best science-related play."

Director Kim Yeonmin, who won the Young Director Award in 2022, is in charge of both translation and direction, reinterpreting the work with a unique and original perspective. Kim Yeonmin stated, "Light reaches objects and creates points, and these points form spaces. In this way, I aim to connect the ever-changing concepts of time, space, and the universe with human curiosity, love, passion, and memory, and to convey the message of 'memento mori.'"

The cast includes acclaimed actors such as Kang Aesim (Lady Croom), who drew attention for her powerful portrayal of maternal love in Netflix's "Squid Game Season 2," as well as Jung Seunggil (Bernard), Jung Wonjo (Bryce), and Kim Sojin (Hannah). The production also features Kim Gyudo (Jellaby), Kwon Il (Valentine), Kim Minha (Septimus), Seo Yohan (Noakes), Park Heejung (Chloe), Kwon Hyeongjun (Chater), Kang Yuseong (Augustus/Gus), and Kim Sewon (Thomasina).