Arcadia Reviews
Chicago Reader- Recommended
"...There are a few stretches where the intellectual back-and-forth gets more weighty than heady. But Hoerl and his company mostly know when to go for the verbal kill shot and when to allow quieter moments to resonate, allowing the audience to put together the pieces of the emotional and historic puzzles that the characters are missing."
Edge- Highly Recommended
"...To open its 13th season, Promethean Theatre Ensemble (PTE) mounts an absolutely masterful production of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia." As it celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, the play's biting humor, intelligence and its unapologetically hopeful tone, even in the face of the eventual heat death of the universe, keep its place among the greatest plays of the second half of the 20th century absolutely secure."
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
"...Stoppard is immensely funny, but can also be intensely challenging, as his fast-paced play of humor and ideas teases the brain while tickling the funny bone. Kudo’s to director Ted Hoerl for taking on this dauntingly complicated show, and mastering it. As with Oscar Wilde, Stoppard uses laughter to disarm our defenses, so that the ideas can move in - exactly what happens at the Greenhouse."
Chicago Theater and Arts- Highly Recommended
"...Get your nerd on and grab your favorite geek to enjoy this performance full of provocative, philosophical questions and allusions to several popular mathematical theories designed to explain the meaning of life and the mystery of the universe."
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
"...Under the direction of Ted Hoerl, whose production remains utterly faithful to the playwright's vision, the Promethean's ensemble cast delivers Stoppard's two-act, three-hour, intellectual tour de force with extraordinary talent, precision, energy, and reverence. Kevin Hagan's functional, smart set--a re-creation of a room off the garden at Sibley Park, an English manor in Derbyshire--serves as the perfect backdrop for Stoppard's cerebral script. And, with the daunting task of delivering the playwright's brilliant dialogue at a breakneck pace amidst an incredible juxtaposition of ideas, the Promethean ensemble proves more than up to the challenge."
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
"...The most brilliant Enlightenment play of the twentieth century, Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” coruscates with freshets of astonishing wit unleashed at a pace that propels ever forward without pause, even as the play and the persons within it look back to the receding glow of a romantic past."