Arcadia cast summary
As with the production staff, I am suppressing some personal details. Maybe the performers will give their OK for full names, addresses, names of pets, phobias and so forth . . . maybe not.
| Character | Description | Performer |
| Ladies in 1809-12 | ||
| Lady Thomasina Coverly (Thomasina) | Aged 13, later almost 17. Daughter of the Earl of Croom. A mathematical prodigy, she is close to her tutor Septimus and stops just short of being pert with her Mama. Give Thomasina until age 28 and all Europe will be talking about her. | With Town & Gown, Joanna has played characters named Prudence (Beyond Therapy) and Vanessa (Play It Again, Sam); she served as Assistant Director on the recent production of As You Like It. With other companies she has also directed, and a couple of years ago she portrayed Chloë in an Atlanta production of Arcadia. |
| The Countess of Croom (Lady Croom)* | Thomasina's Mama, a striking and sexy woman quite in tune with the customs and morals of her time. | Terrell's credits include a terrific performance in T&G's Steel Magnolias a few seasons ago. She has appeared with a half-dozen local companies besides. In real life she is the Mama of four. |
| Ladies in the Present | ||
| Lady Chloë Coverly (Chloë)** | Aged about 19. Daughter of the present Earl of Croom and sister of Valentine and Gus. She is clever but no genius, a little unconventional but no classic English eccentric. | Rebekah has more formal training than her director and has played roles in Town & Gown productions of Henry IV, Beyond Therapy and SubUrbia. |
| Hannah Jarvis | In her 30s. A smart and considering woman, she writes popular histories with a focus on the early 19th-century Romantics. Currently she is doing the end of Romanticism as reflected in the design and execution of landscape gardens. | Though she is by many years not the oldest member of the company, Marie has been around Town & Gown a long time―going back as far as Annie, Get Your Gun. More recently, she directed The Trip to Bountiful and performed in The House of Blue Leaves. |
| Gentlemen in 1809-12 | ||
| Septimus Hodge | Aged 22, later 25. Recent university graduate and Thomasina’s tutor. A man of many talents and considerable virility, he seems to be about 20 minutes behind everyone else. | T&G's Renaissance Man, Tom can drive screws without drawing blood (80% of the time) and also has credits as performer (The Trip to Bountiful) and director (Moon Over Buffalo). |
| Jellaby | Middle-aged. The butler, a figure of dignity and discretion. | A bookseller, Robert came to Town & Gown just this past season, appearing in As You Like It. He was Tom's A.D. on Moon Over Buffalo. |
| Ezra Chater | A bad poet and hothead with a wife who can’t keep her drawers up. | Derek currently finds himself teaching high school English. He has displayed his comic talents in The Devil's Disciple and The Royal Family and was the director of Godspell for T&G last season. |
| Richard Noakes | A landscape designer and contractor, a straying disciple of Humphry Repton. | When asked what ages he can play, Jordan replied: "Any?" He made his Town & Gown début in Three Sisters a year ago. |
| Captain Brice, RN | Lady Croom’s brother, a highly conventional man with connections and money enough to take the Chaters on expedition to the West Indies. | Mitch has been so gainfully employed that he has not been able to work with T&G for a couple of years. He is a welcome returnee. |
| Lord Augustus Coverly | Aged 15, Thomasina’s younger brother. He is mischievous and curious. | Chase is new to T&G but has been doing theater since he could walk. He has credits as playwright, director and electrician; one of his acting gigs was as Chater in an Atlanta production of Arcadia. |
| Gentlemen in the Present | ||
| Bernard Nightingale | About the same age as Hannah. A literature professor in a provincial university, specializing in Lord Byron. He dresses flamboyantly but not ridiculously and has a tendency to go off half-cocked, if that. | Allen has taken part in more than 60 productions with us and other companies. He played the decadent Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses and directed a memorable Jake's Women. |
| Lord Valentine Coverly (Valentine) | Aged in his 20s, brother of Chloë and Gus and heir to the Earldom of Croom. A talented mathematician engaged in a data-mining project at the ancestral home. | Even though he is a newcomer to Town & Gown, Patrick has worked onstage and backstage on many productions elsewhere. |
| Lord Augustus Coverly (Gus) | Aged 15, brother of Chloë and Valentine. He doesn’t speak, but he exerts great influence on Hannah’s research. | Chase doubles as Gus. |
*In some background materials she is named Audrey, but that's just a handle I invented for her.
**Don't talk to me about umlauts; the letter e doesn't take an umlaut. The dots are called a diaeresis and signify that the e is its own syllable, so that the name rhymes with Bowie, not doe.
| Approved Ben Teague web site |
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Cast