Even in Arcadia: Conflict, Certainty, and Self-Perception whilst Directing Tom Stoppard's Iconic Play

Abstract

This thesis is a partial documentation of the process of preparing and rehearsing Temple University Theatre's 2015 production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, and the ways in which the process was artistically challenging and personally transformative. It is a demonstration of the manifold procedure of discovering action through language in the rehearsal process, the essential relationship of language to behavior in all collaborative practice and both the embrace of constructive conflict and the fundamental exercise of self-reflection as the primary catalysts for artistic development.