A House Multiplied: 'Arcadia'

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THERE'S A CERTAIN joy in sitting in a room of people smarter and funnier than you are. In many ways, Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" replicates that sensation by elegantly jumping between eras in one English country house, Sidley Park.

Interwoven narratives from the early 19th century and the near-present day jump into the mathematical, scientific and literary leanings of characters both on the edge of major discoveries and those too jaded to believe anymore.

In the earlier epoch, Stoppard focuses on the lively questing of a young math prodigy, Thomasina Coverly (Erin Weaver), and her erudite tutor, Septimus Hodge (Cody Nickell).

Their zingy explorations and arguments about Fermat's theorem, landscape gardening and, eventually, the nature of love, come across like the highest-brow, most hilarious dinner party conversation you've heard in months. Their desire to get at the truth — whether it's of an algebra proof or the nature of the universe — makes their scenes bristle with life and learning.

But it's their slight connection to Hodge's school pal Lord Byron that strings them to "Arcadia's" second time period. In the same house in the present day, frustrated scholar Hannah Jarvis (Holly Twyford) delves into both whether Byron spent time there and, if so, also offed a fellow poet in a duel.

It's all heady, sometimes head-spinning stuff, but in the wood-paneled, book-filled set, the answers to big questions are wrapped up in the humanity of these characters. They aren't just showing off their intellects; they're searching for the meaning — and the heart — of life itself.

» Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE; through June 21, $34-$55; 202-544-7077.

Photo courtesy Carol Pratt