Everything you need to know about Arcadia in the West End

Here are all the facts about Tom Stoppard’s time-bending masterpiece ahead of its West End transfer

Arcadia is returning to the Duke of York’s Theatre after 27 years away. Carrie Cracknall’s production was a big hit at the Old Vic, and as the highly anticipated West End transfer kicks off its run this month, you can expect a lot of buzz. Stoppard’s masterful drama celebrating learning, science and the human mind is not one to miss, and Cracknall’s unique staging immerses audiences in not one but two points of time, bringing two worlds into collision. Here’s everything you need to know about Arcadia.

Which theatre will Arcadia play at?

Arcadia will play at the Duke of York’s Theatre on St Martin’s Lane in the West End.

When will Arcadia come to London?

Arcadia’s West End run will begin on 20 June. The show will play in London until 12 September.

Who’s in the cast?

The show stars Nikki Amuka-Bird as Hannah Jarvis and Oliver Chris as Bernard Nightingale, Aaron Anthony as Richard Noakes, David Buttle as Captain Brice, Matthew Doswell as Gus Coverly/Augustus Coverly, Yolanda Kettle as Lady Croom, Angus Cooper as Valentine Coverly, Seamus Dillane as Septimus Hodge, Tim Frances as Jellaby, Holly Godliman as Chloë Coverly, Matthew Steer as Ezra Chater and Isis Hainsworth reprising her Olivier Award-nominated role as Thomasina Coverly, with understudies Alex Britt, Peta Cornish, Keziah Hayes and Eddie Mann.

Who wrote Arcadia?

Arcadia is written by Tom Stoppard, one of the most influential British playwrights of the modern age. In 2006, the Royal Institute of Great Britain named it one of the best science-related works ever written.

Who’s on the creative team?

The show is directed by Carrie Cracknall, with set design by Alex Eales, costume design by Suzanne Cave, lighting design by Guy Hoare, sound design by Donato Wharton, movement by Ira Mandela Siobhan, and compositions by Stuart Earl.

What’s Arcadia about?

Arcadia takes place across two timelines. In 1809, Thomasina Covey, a precocious young girl with an understanding of physics and maths well ahead of her time, studies with her tutor Septimus Hodge. In the present day, writer Hannah Jarvis and professor of literature Bernard Nightingale work in the house on their separate research projects, but as their studies unfold the truth about what happened in Thomasina’s time slowly comes to light.

How will it be staged?

The production played in the round at the Old Vic, and the Duke of York’s Theatre will be reconfigured for the show’s West End run to recreate this staging, with limited seating available onstage.

When was Arcadia first performed?

Arcadia first opened at the Royal National Theatre in London on 13 April 1993, directed by Trevor Nunn with Rufus Sewell as Septimus Hodge, Felicity Kendal as Hannah Jarvis, Bill Nighy as Bernard Nightingale, Emma Fielding as Thomasina Coverly, Allan Mitchell as Jellaby, Derek Hutchinson as Ezra Chater, Sidney Livingstone as Richard Noakes, Harriet Walter as Lady Croom, Graham Sinclair as Captain Brice, Harriet Harrison as Chloe Coverly, Timothy Matthews as Augustus and Gus Coverly and Samuel West as Valentine Coverly.

Arcadia opened on Broadway two years later, and in Paris three years after that. It returned to London in 2009, to play at the Duke of York’s Theatre, and also to Broadway in 2011. The show then returned to London again in 2025 when it opened at the Old Vic, marking the first major production since Stoppard’s death.

Has Arcadia won any awards?

The show won the 1993 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play. It was nominated for the 1995 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2011 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, and the 2026 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival.

Why should I see it?

Arcadia enjoyed a sold-out run at the Old Vic and plenty of acclaim from critics earlier this year. It’s considered one of the greatest plays from one of Britain’s greatest playwrights, celebrating the beauty of discovery and the human pursuit of knowledge, and acting almost as a love letter to the human mind. Intelligent, witty and driven by a passion for learning, it’s a very hard work not to love.

Arcadia is now booking at the Duke of York’s Theatre until 12 September – find tickets here