The play's the thing: Blackbird brings Stoppard's ARCADIA to the Nashville stage

Talk to cast members of Blackbird Theater Company's production of Arcadia and you get the idea that all this hard work we've heard so much about may actually be a whole lot of fun. And ask them why audiences should come see the show, which opens Friday night, February 25, at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre, and the answers you get may not be what you expect either.

Clearly, every member of the company - from producer Greg Greene to director Ted Swindley to actor Jeff Boyet and costume designer June Kingsbury (and everyone else involved) - is excited about bringing Stoppard's acclaimed play to the Nashville stage for the first time in more than 10 years and it is an experience they'll probably be talking about for a long time to come.

"Sex, math, awkward moments, gardening, waltzing, laughing, drawing, dueling, discovering - and turtles! - all creatively designed in one show. Doesn't that just make you want to know what it's about?" queries actress Shannon McMinn Hoppe, who plays Lady Croom. "It's just crazy good!"

Producer Greg Greene, who doubles as the company's managing director, says Arcadia was chosen to close out Blackbird's first season because "It's one of our favorites plays, and it's the kind of play that dovetails perfectly with Blackbird's mission to do rich, intelligent and engaging shows. Tom Stoppard is a phenomenal writer - the greatest living playwright in our opinion. It's surprising that his plays aren't performed more often in Nashville."

Arcadia was last staged in Nashville in 1999, when ACT 1 presented its critically acclaimed rendition of Stoppard's play, which coincidentally begins previews on Saturday, February 26, for its upcoming Broadway revival.

Ask Blackbird artistic director Wes Driver, who is onstage in Arcadia as Valentine, why people should come see the show and his answer comes back quickly and succinctly: "Stoppard."

"He's my favorite playwright," Driver explains. "Peerless in intelligence. As funny as he is profound. I love plays that wrestle with big ideas, and the ideas at the heart of Arcadia are really the biggest of all, cutting to the very nature of what we know and how we know it. And these weighty themes are all explored by these amusing, passionate characters through a compelling mystery-romance-comedy. So come see the show because the script is a masterful work of art, and we have a terrific group of actors and designers and a director capable of realizing its power. Just be ready to get those neurons firing. There is much to absorb."

Among those actors striving to bring Stoppard's play to life, in addition to Hoppe and Driver, are Amanda Card McCoy (who earlier this week opened in Nashville Children's Theatre's production of Goodnight Moon) Denice Hicks, Jeff Boyet, David Compton, Britt Byrd, Scott Rice, Brad Forrister, Craig Hoover, John Silvestro and Matthew Raich.

"I've never worked with such an accomplished and talented group from top to bottom. From Ted Swindley as director to set designer David Hardy to costumers June Kingsbury and Angela Comer to actors like Denice and David and Jeff and Amanda and the list goes on and on," Driver says. "Everybody is very, very good at what they do, and I, as artistic director, can relax in the trust that everyone is going to do their thing impeccably. That's a nice feeling, believe me."

"It is absolutely terrifying for an actor - well, for this actor anyway," confesses Jeff Boyet, who takes on the role of Septimus in the production. "It's genius. I'm not. It's British. I'm not. What's not to love? I can assure you, the audience will walk away feeling smarter. The creative team is giving their best effort to make this piece successful for Blackbird Theatre. It hasn't been done in Nashville for many years and it's easy to see why. For Greg and Wes to make this show their sophomore piece is quite gutsy. It's a huge challenge for all of us."

Greene admits this first year in Blackbird's existence has been challenging in a variety of ways, but that the theater-going public's response has made it all worth it.

"Our first year operating as a semi-professional theater company has been challenging, especially with formalizing the business and regulatory sides of the endeavor, and then taking on a show as formidable at Arcadia," he says. "But the response from Nashville theater-goers and the dedication of the theater professionals who chose to work with us has been greater than we could have hoped for. The modest success of Blackbird's first production - our original comedic thriller Twilight of the Gods - confirmed to us that local audiences are interested in shows they haven't seen before and are willing to risk a little of their time and money on new works. We've been extremely gratified by the response so far to our first season and look forward to hearing what audiences think of Arcadia."

Denice Hicks, who plays Hannah in Arcadia and who heads Nashville Shakespeare Festival as its artistic director, welcomes Blackbird to Nashville's family of theater companies by taking on the role - and, judging from what she's seen thus far, the company is filling an important role in the city's artistic community.

"I have looked forward to every rehearsal. The ensemble is very supportive, very nurturing and very talented. As daunting as this material can be, I've been encouraged by the process and cast," Hicks says. "Greg Green is one of the most involved producers I've had the pleasure of working with and Wes Driver, as artistic director, is unabashedly passionate about this play. They are both tirelessly dedicated to excellence and that makes the work fun."

"Having such a supportive and talented cast and crew is actually not different from the typical Nashville theater expeirencs," Hicks suggests. "Blackbird Theater is jumping right into the race and running with the big dogs! Personally, I've never worked at the Shamblin Theater before and I like the space quite a bit. I'm also impressed with the dedication of the Lipscomb University studetns who are working on this production. They are a talented lot!"

Britt Byrd, who was in the company's season-opening production of Twilight of the Gods, returns to the company to find herself working alongside some of the best-known names in Nashville theater: "While I've had the privilege of working with Blackbird before, this production makes it all feel very fresh," she says. "To work alongside the caliber of talent this offers and to be directed by Ted Swindley has really forced me to put my 'big girl' pants on. If I thought I was dedicated and focused before, I obviously hadn't had a Stoppard script plopped into my lap."

"I can't sing the praises of the cast and crew enough," Byrd offers. "We all work very hard, and play harder. The laughs are endless, as are the continuous words of support and encouragement. The friends I have made during this run are ones I hope will be lifelong."

"I'm working with people I've never worked with before and I love it!" exclaims David Compton, who most recently was seen in Tennessee Rep's production of To Kill A Mockingbird, playing the bigoted Tom Ewell, and who plays Bernard in Arcadia. "It's exciting to work with a new theater company and be a part of Nashville's growing and thriving theater community. Plus, new friendships have been created which is always wonderful."

For Boyet, the members of the ensemble have made it a special experience for him, although he has other reasons to be proud of his involvement: "Getting to work with this talented group is a blessing and having the opportunity to team up with Ted Swindley again makes me happy. Ted cast me back in 1998 in a bio musical about the Everly Brothers and that show changed my life."

Hoppe says the Arcadia experience has afforded her the opporunity to work with "some of the most talented people I know."

"Every time I've been in a show/project, I leave with something valuable to use the next time I get the lucky oppportunity to use it," she says. "The only difference to me are the people. How blessed I am to have been able to meet and learn from some of the best through the years. The Arcadia cast is filled with some of the most talented people I know."

Green's view of the cast and crew - and the entire creative collective bringing Arcadia to the stage - matches those expressed by the cast members.

"To come out of the gate our very first season and to be able to work with actors like Denice Hicks, David Compton, Jeff Boyet and Amanda Card McCoy is not something we would have believed possible a year ago," he maintains. "And yet these professionals were completely approachable and excited about our desire to produce Arcadia. What distinguishes these incredible actors is their resolve to create great theater in Nashville. The entire cast - every single member - is ridiculously talented and form a strong ensemble, and they're enjoying working together. There's great personal chemistry. It's a uniquely Nashville cast. We should also note that the crew is staffed by faculty and students of our artistic partner, the Lipscomb University Department of Theatre. They are dedicated and skilled, the students are highly trained, and they've been the backbone of the production."

Green gives a great deal of credit to Swindley for what he anticipates will be a very successful run of Arcadia.

"Bringing in Ted Swindley to direct gave Wes the chance to act," he says. "We met Ted as we were producing Twilight of the Gods, and just really hit it off from the start. Ted is a true gentleman with an enviable list of accomplishments in theater, including writing, producing, directing and founding a theater company. And the shows he's directed represent some of the plays and playwrights we most admire, in particular the works of Stephen Sondheim. Personally, it's been very insightful for us to see him direct and interact with our cast and crew, to see how he collaborates with the actors to create a performance. If you want a mentor, Ted Swindley is that kind of man to find."

And while tech week for Arcadia is taking up most of his attention, Green admits that he and Driver are already looking ahead to Blackbird's second season, which will open next August with a production of G.K. Chesterton's Magic. Chesterton, although largely unknown today, was considered one of the "towering intellectuals of the early twentieth century," Green explains, pointing out that George Bernard Shaw, often Chesterton's foil and friend, referred to him as "a man of colossal genius.

"Magic involves the story of an aristocratic family whose conflicting beliefs and doubts about the supernatural are all challenged by the arrival of a mysterious conjurer. It's funny, dramatic, romantic, mysterious - really everything you want in a play," Green suggests. "And it's only been staged in the U.S. Maybe a couple of times the past 40 years or so. Magic will open in August."

Following that, Green says a musical may be on the menu for next winter's offering from Blackbird Theater Company, "and the following summer we should have another original play."

- Arcadia. By Tom Stoppard. Directed by Ted Swindley. Presented by Blackbird Theater Company at the Shamblin Theatre at David Lipscomb University, Nashville. Running February 25-March 12; curtain for each performance is at 7 p.m. For ticket information, call the Lipscomb University box office at (615) 966-7075. For more information, visit the company's website at www.blackbirdnashville.com.

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