Scene 1
The play opens on 10 April 1809, in a garden front room of a country house in Derbyshire with tutor Septimus Hodge trying to distract his 13 year-old pupil Thomasina from her enquiries as to the meaning of a "carnal embrace" by challenging her to prove Fermat's Last Theorem so he can focus on reading the poem 'The Couch of Eros', a piece written by another character, Mr. Ezra Chater. Thomasina starts questioning why the jam in rice pudding can never be unstirred, which leads her on to the topic of determinism, beginning to develop a theory regarding the chaotic shapes of nature. This however is interrupted by Mr. Chater himself who is shortly revealed to be angry that his wife, Mrs. Chater, was caught engaging in "carnal embrace" in the gazebo with Septimus, and has come intending to challenge Septimus to a duel. Septimus attempts to defuse the situation by heaping oleaginous praise on "The Couch of Eros", a tactic that works, as at this point Chater doesn't realise that it was Septimus who had previously negatively reviewed an earlier work of his, "The Maid of Turkey". Landscape architect Noakes enters, shortly accompanied by Captain Brice and Lady Croom, who then proceed to discuss the proposed modifications to the gardens, with Thomasina drawing a picture of an imaginary hermit (in the biblical style of John the Baptist) onto Mr. Noakes's picture of the garden (with its fantasy hermitage) as he sees it in the future.
[edit]Scene 2
The setting shifts to the present day, with Hannah Jarvis researching about the house, garden and specifically the hermit, for a study centering on Hermits and the romantic imagination. Bernard Nightingale enters, escorted by Chloe Coverley, who fails to impart to Hannah the true identity of Bernard, as he gave Hannah's last book a poor review. Chloe's brother, Valentine Coverley, is doing research into the population biology of the grouse in the surrounding grounds, based on data from the historical "game books". When eventually Bernard's identity is revealed after a verbal misstep by Chloe, Hannah initially reacts angrily but regardless she agrees to share the research material he requested, allowing him to propose his theory that one of the 1809 inhabitants, Mr. Ezra Chater, was killed in a duel by Lord Byron. Bernard notes that records of Chater disappear after 1809; the only other notable Ezra Chater is a botanist.
[edit]Scene 3
The third scene reverts back to the initial timeframe, again in a tutorial session between Septimus and Thomasina, this time in Latin translation. Again the focus of the lesson diverts somewhat, here on to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, which upsets Thomasina, who mourns the loss of the knowledge contained there, though Septimus's response is that all that is lost will eventually turn up again. The discussion is once again interrupted by Mr. Chater, who once again challenges Septimus to a duel, having finally realised, learning off-stage from Lord Byron, that Septimus was behind the negative reviews of his work.
[edit]Scene 4
Hannah rediscovers Thomasina's primer containing her ideas on iteration and chaos theory, recalling the previous scene's assertion that what is lost is eventually rediscovered. Valentine reacts with interest to this, as his own research in the present day centres on similar areas and concepts.
[edit]Scene 5
In the first scene of act 2, Hannah, Valentine and Chloe are given a preview of Bernard's lecture detailing Byron's supposed role in what he believes was Chater's murder. Bernard becomes agitated when Hannah and Valentine challenge the solidity and logic of his argument, responding by launching into a diatribe about the irrelevance of science, before departing to share the lecture in the capital and make promotional appearances in the media. Hannah meanwhile begins to suspect that the hermit of Sidley Park, who was reportedly obsessed with algebra and the heat death of the universe, the theory suggested in Thomasina's diagram, and who was also born in the same year, could have been Septimus.
[edit]Scene 6
Reverting to 1809, scene 6 reveals that the duel never occurred, with the Chaters instead having departed for the West Indies along with Captain Brice; Mr. Chater is accompanying the expedition as a botanist, and Mrs. Chater as Captain Brice's paramour. Byron has left also. Septimus has killed a rabbit for Thomasina. Septimus returns to find Lady Croom searching for him, after finding two letters that Septimus had written in case he was killed by Chater, one a love letter addressed to herself and the other, written to Thomasina, regarding rice pudding. Lady Croom then invites Septimus to an amorous rendezvous.
[edit]Scene 7
The seventh scene takes place in both 1812 and the present day, with the action of each in the shared setting effectively running concurrently. Furthermore, in the present day, some of the characters are in fancy dress for a party, meaning that the clothes and appearance of both casts are to some extent similar. Chloe is reading newspaper reports on the Byron murder theory as proposed by Bernard, before talking about determinism with Valentine, in a conversation echoing the one between Septimus and Thomasina earlier; Chloe, however, believes that sex is the force throwing off the universe's ordered plan. Valentine uses his computer to further advance the ideas proposed by Thomasina, and discusses the concept of entropy, and whether or not it was Thomasina or Septimus who was the genius behind the theories. Hannah and Valentine mention that "the girl" died in a fire on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
Meanwhile, Thomasina (who is approaching her seventeenth birthday at this point) asks Septimus to teach her to dance. Lady Croom enters, complaining to Mr. Noakes about the noise of his steam engine, before Thomasina explains that the machine operates under the laws of entropy (not yet propounded at the time) which prove that the universe is winding down. In the present, Bernard arrives at the house where he is met by Hannah, who has discovered evidence, a letter showing the true cause of Mr. Chater's death, that totally discredits his argument and vindicates Lord Byron. While Septimus waits for appropriate music for a dance lesson that Thomasina has asked for, he examines the picture she made to illustrate the irreversibility of heat, an action mirrored in the present setting with Valentine and Hannah also looking at the same diagram and discussing its significance. Bernard is forced to depart having been caught in a compromising position with Chloe. Eventually a waltz starts. Septimus dances with Thomasina, their relationship of teacher and pupil increasingly complicated by hints of romance. Gus—Valentine and Chloe's brother, who has remained silent for the entire course of the play, brings Hannah Thomasina's drawing of Septimus and the tortoise together. This confirms Hannah's belief that the hermit, who owned a tortoise called Plautus, is Septimus; after the death of Thomasina, and faced with her challenge to the laws of the universe as propounded by Newton, he indeed becomes the hermit obsessed with applying "honest English algebra" to the question of the future of the universe.

Scene 1
The play opens on 10 April 1809, in a garden front room of a country house in Derbyshire with tutor Septimus Hodge trying to distract his 13 year-old pupil Thomasina from her enquiries as to the meaning of a "carnal embrace" by challenging her to prove Fermat's Last Theorem so he can focus on reading the poem 'The Couch of Eros', a piece written by another character, Mr. Ezra Chater. Thomasina starts questioning why the jam in rice pudding can never be unstirred, which leads her on to the topic of determinism, beginning to develop a theory regarding the chaotic shapes of nature. This however is interrupted by Mr. Chater himself who is shortly revealed to be angry that his wife, Mrs. Chater, was caught engaging in "carnal embrace" in the gazebo with Septimus, and has come intending to challenge Septimus to a duel. Septimus attempts to defuse the situation by heaping oleaginous praise on "The Couch of Eros", a tactic that works, as at this point Chater doesn't realise that it was Septimus who had previously negatively reviewed an earlier work of his, "The Maid of Turkey". Landscape architect Noakes enters, shortly accompanied by Captain Brice and Lady Croom, who then proceed to discuss the proposed modifications to the gardens, with Thomasina drawing a picture of an imaginary hermit (in the biblical style of John the Baptist) onto Mr. Noakes's picture of the garden (with its fantasy hermitage) as he sees it in the future.
[edit]Scene 2
The setting shifts to the present day, with Hannah Jarvis researching about the house, garden and specifically the hermit, for a study centering on Hermits and the romantic imagination. Bernard Nightingale enters, escorted by Chloe Coverley, who fails to impart to Hannah the true identity of Bernard, as he gave Hannah's last book a poor review. Chloe's brother, Valentine Coverley, is doing research into the population biology of the grouse in the surrounding grounds, based on data from the historical "game books". When eventually Bernard's identity is revealed after a verbal misstep by Chloe, Hannah initially reacts angrily but regardless she agrees to share the research material he requested, allowing him to propose his theory that one of the 1809 inhabitants, Mr. Ezra Chater, was killed in a duel by Lord Byron. Bernard notes that records of Chater disappear after 1809; the only other notable Ezra Chater is a botanist.
[edit]Scene 3
The third scene reverts back to the initial timeframe, again in a tutorial session between Septimus and Thomasina, this time in Latin translation. Again the focus of the lesson diverts somewhat, here on to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, which upsets Thomasina, who mourns the loss of the knowledge contained there, though Septimus's response is that all that is lost will eventually turn up again. The discussion is once again interrupted by Mr. Chater, who once again challenges Septimus to a duel, having finally realised, learning off-stage from Lord Byron, that Septimus was behind the negative reviews of his work.
[edit]Scene 4
Hannah rediscovers Thomasina's primer containing her ideas on iteration and chaos theory, recalling the previous scene's assertion that what is lost is eventually rediscovered. Valentine reacts with interest to this, as his own research in the present day centres on similar areas and concepts.
[edit]Scene 5
In the first scene of act 2, Hannah, Valentine and Chloe are given a preview of Bernard's lecture detailing Byron's supposed role in what he believes was Chater's murder. Bernard becomes agitated when Hannah and Valentine challenge the solidity and logic of his argument, responding by launching into a diatribe about the irrelevance of science, before departing to share the lecture in the capital and make promotional appearances in the media. Hannah meanwhile begins to suspect that the hermit of Sidley Park, who was reportedly obsessed with algebra and the heat death of the universe, the theory suggested in Thomasina's diagram, and who was also born in the same year, could have been Septimus.
[edit]Scene 6
Reverting to 1809, scene 6 reveals that the duel never occurred, with the Chaters instead having departed for the West Indies along with Captain Brice; Mr. Chater is accompanying the expedition as a botanist, and Mrs. Chater as Captain Brice's paramour. Byron has left also. Septimus has killed a rabbit for Thomasina. Septimus returns to find Lady Croom searching for him, after finding two letters that Septimus had written in case he was killed by Chater, one a love letter addressed to herself and the other, written to Thomasina, regarding rice pudding. Lady Croom then invites Septimus to an amorous rendezvous.
[edit]Scene 7
The seventh scene takes place in both 1812 and the present day, with the action of each in the shared setting effectively running concurrently. Furthermore, in the present day, some of the characters are in fancy dress for a party, meaning that the clothes and appearance of both casts are to some extent similar. Chloe is reading newspaper reports on the Byron murder theory as proposed by Bernard, before talking about determinism with Valentine, in a conversation echoing the one between Septimus and Thomasina earlier; Chloe, however, believes that sex is the force throwing off the universe's ordered plan. Valentine uses his computer to further advance the ideas proposed by Thomasina, and discusses the concept of entropy, and whether or not it was Thomasina or Septimus who was the genius behind the theories. Hannah and Valentine mention that "the girl" died in a fire on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
Meanwhile, Thomasina (who is approaching her seventeenth birthday at this point) asks Septimus to teach her to dance. Lady Croom enters, complaining to Mr. Noakes about the noise of his steam engine, before Thomasina explains that the machine operates under the laws of entropy (not yet propounded at the time) which prove that the universe is winding down. In the present, Bernard arrives at the house where he is met by Hannah, who has discovered evidence, a letter showing the true cause of Mr. Chater's death, that totally discredits his argument and vindicates Lord Byron. While Septimus waits for appropriate music for a dance lesson that Thomasina has asked for, he examines the picture she made to illustrate the irreversibility of heat, an action mirrored in the present setting with Valentine and Hannah also looking at the same diagram and discussing its significance. Bernard is forced to depart having been caught in a compromising position with Chloe. Eventually a waltz starts. Septimus dances with Thomasina, their relationship of teacher and pupil increasingly complicated by hints of romance. Gus—Valentine and Chloe's brother, who has remained silent for the entire course of the play, brings Hannah Thomasina's drawing of Septimus and the tortoise together. This confirms Hannah's belief that the hermit, who owned a tortoise called Plautus, is Septimus; after the death of Thomasina, and faced with her challenge to the laws of the universe as propounded by Newton, he indeed becomes the hermit obsessed with applying "honest English algebra" to the question of the future of the universe.

Scene 1
The play opens on 10 April 1809, in a garden front room of a country house in Derbyshire with tutor Septimus Hodge trying to distract his 13 year-old pupil Thomasina from her enquiries as to the meaning of a "carnal embrace" by challenging her to prove Fermat's Last Theorem so he can focus on reading the poem 'The Couch of Eros', a piece written by another character, Mr. Ezra Chater. Thomasina starts questioning why the jam in rice pudding can never be unstirred, which leads her on to the topic of determinism, beginning to develop a theory regarding the chaotic shapes of nature. This however is interrupted by Mr. Chater himself who is shortly revealed to be angry that his wife, Mrs. Chater, was caught engaging in "carnal embrace" in the gazebo with Septimus, and has come intending to challenge Septimus to a duel. Septimus attempts to defuse the situation by heaping oleaginous praise on "The Couch of Eros", a tactic that works, as at this point Chater doesn't realise that it was Septimus who had previously negatively reviewed an earlier work of his, "The Maid of Turkey". Landscape architect Noakes enters, shortly accompanied by Captain Brice and Lady Croom, who then proceed to discuss the proposed modifications to the gardens, with Thomasina drawing a picture of an imaginary hermit (in the biblical style of John the Baptist) onto Mr. Noakes's picture of the garden (with its fantasy hermitage) as he sees it in the future.
[edit]Scene 2
The setting shifts to the present day, with Hannah Jarvis researching about the house, garden and specifically the hermit, for a study centering on Hermits and the romantic imagination. Bernard Nightingale enters, escorted by Chloe Coverley, who fails to impart to Hannah the true identity of Bernard, as he gave Hannah's last book a poor review. Chloe's brother, Valentine Coverley, is doing research into the population biology of the grouse in the surrounding grounds, based on data from the historical "game books". When eventually Bernard's identity is revealed after a verbal misstep by Chloe, Hannah initially reacts angrily but regardless she agrees to share the research material he requested, allowing him to propose his theory that one of the 1809 inhabitants, Mr. Ezra Chater, was killed in a duel by Lord Byron. Bernard notes that records of Chater disappear after 1809; the only other notable Ezra Chater is a botanist.
[edit]Scene 3
The third scene reverts back to the initial timeframe, again in a tutorial session between Septimus and Thomasina, this time in Latin translation. Again the focus of the lesson diverts somewhat, here on to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, which upsets Thomasina, who mourns the loss of the knowledge contained there, though Septimus's response is that all that is lost will eventually turn up again. The discussion is once again interrupted by Mr. Chater, who once again challenges Septimus to a duel, having finally realised, learning off-stage from Lord Byron, that Septimus was behind the negative reviews of his work.
[edit]Scene 4
Hannah rediscovers Thomasina's primer containing her ideas on iteration and chaos theory, recalling the previous scene's assertion that what is lost is eventually rediscovered. Valentine reacts with interest to this, as his own research in the present day centres on similar areas and concepts.
[edit]Scene 5
In the first scene of act 2, Hannah, Valentine and Chloe are given a preview of Bernard's lecture detailing Byron's supposed role in what he believes was Chater's murder. Bernard becomes agitated when Hannah and Valentine challenge the solidity and logic of his argument, responding by launching into a diatribe about the irrelevance of science, before departing to share the lecture in the capital and make promotional appearances in the media. Hannah meanwhile begins to suspect that the hermit of Sidley Park, who was reportedly obsessed with algebra and the heat death of the universe, the theory suggested in Thomasina's diagram, and who was also born in the same year, could have been Septimus.
[edit]Scene 6
Reverting to 1809, scene 6 reveals that the duel never occurred, with the Chaters instead having departed for the West Indies along with Captain Brice; Mr. Chater is accompanying the expedition as a botanist, and Mrs. Chater as Captain Brice's paramour. Byron has left also. Septimus has killed a rabbit for Thomasina. Septimus returns to find Lady Croom searching for him, after finding two letters that Septimus had written in case he was killed by Chater, one a love letter addressed to herself and the other, written to Thomasina, regarding rice pudding. Lady Croom then invites Septimus to an amorous rendezvous.
[edit]Scene 7
The seventh scene takes place in both 1812 and the present day, with the action of each in the shared setting effectively running concurrently. Furthermore, in the present day, some of the characters are in fancy dress for a party, meaning that the clothes and appearance of both casts are to some extent similar. Chloe is reading newspaper reports on the Byron murder theory as proposed by Bernard, before talking about determinism with Valentine, in a conversation echoing the one between Septimus and Thomasina earlier; Chloe, however, believes that sex is the force throwing off the universe's ordered plan. Valentine uses his computer to further advance the ideas proposed by Thomasina, and discusses the concept of entropy, and whether or not it was Thomasina or Septimus who was the genius behind the theories. Hannah and Valentine mention that "the girl" died in a fire on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
Meanwhile, Thomasina (who is approaching her seventeenth birthday at this point) asks Septimus to teach her to dance. Lady Croom enters, complaining to Mr. Noakes about the noise of his steam engine, before Thomasina explains that the machine operates under the laws of entropy (not yet propounded at the time) which prove that the universe is winding down. In the present, Bernard arrives at the house where he is met by Hannah, who has discovered evidence, a letter showing the true cause of Mr. Chater's death, that totally discredits his argument and vindicates Lord Byron. While Septimus waits for appropriate music for a dance lesson that Thomasina has asked for, he examines the picture she made to illustrate the irreversibility of heat, an action mirrored in the present setting with Valentine and Hannah also looking at the same diagram and discussing its significance. Bernard is forced to depart having been caught in a compromising position with Chloe. Eventually a waltz starts. Septimus dances with Thomasina, their relationship of teacher and pupil increasingly complicated by hints of romance. Gus—Valentine and Chloe's brother, who has remained silent for the entire course of the play, brings Hannah Thomasina's drawing of Septimus and the tortoise together. This confirms Hannah's belief that the hermit, who owned a tortoise called Plautus, is Septimus; after the death of Thomasina, and faced with her challenge to the laws of the universe as propounded by Newton, he indeed becomes the hermit obsessed with applying "honest English algebra" to the question of the future of the universe.

Scene 1
The play opens on 10 April 1809, in a garden front room of a country house in Derbyshire with tutor Septimus Hodge trying to distract his 13 year-old pupil Thomasina from her enquiries as to the meaning of a "carnal embrace" by challenging her to prove Fermat's Last Theorem so he can focus on reading the poem 'The Couch of Eros', a piece written by another character, Mr. Ezra Chater. Thomasina starts questioning why the jam in rice pudding can never be unstirred, which leads her on to the topic of determinism, beginning to develop a theory regarding the chaotic shapes of nature. This however is interrupted by Mr. Chater himself who is shortly revealed to be angry that his wife, Mrs. Chater, was caught engaging in "carnal embrace" in the gazebo with Septimus, and has come intending to challenge Septimus to a duel. Septimus attempts to defuse the situation by heaping oleaginous praise on "The Couch of Eros", a tactic that works, as at this point Chater doesn't realise that it was Septimus who had previously negatively reviewed an earlier work of his, "The Maid of Turkey". Landscape architect Noakes enters, shortly accompanied by Captain Brice and Lady Croom, who then proceed to discuss the proposed modifications to the gardens, with Thomasina drawing a picture of an imaginary hermit (in the biblical style of John the Baptist) onto Mr. Noakes's picture of the garden (with its fantasy hermitage) as he sees it in the future.
[edit]Scene 2
The setting shifts to the present day, with Hannah Jarvis researching about the house, garden and specifically the hermit, for a study centering on Hermits and the romantic imagination. Bernard Nightingale enters, escorted by Chloe Coverley, who fails to impart to Hannah the true identity of Bernard, as he gave Hannah's last book a poor review. Chloe's brother, Valentine Coverley, is doing research into the population biology of the grouse in the surrounding grounds, based on data from the historical "game books". When eventually Bernard's identity is revealed after a verbal misstep by Chloe, Hannah initially reacts angrily but regardless she agrees to share the research material he requested, allowing him to propose his theory that one of the 1809 inhabitants, Mr. Ezra Chater, was killed in a duel by Lord Byron. Bernard notes that records of Chater disappear after 1809; the only other notable Ezra Chater is a botanist.
[edit]Scene 3
The third scene reverts back to the initial timeframe, again in a tutorial session between Septimus and Thomasina, this time in Latin translation. Again the focus of the lesson diverts somewhat, here on to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, which upsets Thomasina, who mourns the loss of the knowledge contained there, though Septimus's response is that all that is lost will eventually turn up again. The discussion is once again interrupted by Mr. Chater, who once again challenges Septimus to a duel, having finally realised, learning off-stage from Lord Byron, that Septimus was behind the negative reviews of his work.
[edit]Scene 4
Hannah rediscovers Thomasina's primer containing her ideas on iteration and chaos theory, recalling the previous scene's assertion that what is lost is eventually rediscovered. Valentine reacts with interest to this, as his own research in the present day centres on similar areas and concepts.
[edit]Scene 5
In the first scene of act 2, Hannah, Valentine and Chloe are given a preview of Bernard's lecture detailing Byron's supposed role in what he believes was Chater's murder. Bernard becomes agitated when Hannah and Valentine challenge the solidity and logic of his argument, responding by launching into a diatribe about the irrelevance of science, before departing to share the lecture in the capital and make promotional appearances in the media. Hannah meanwhile begins to suspect that the hermit of Sidley Park, who was reportedly obsessed with algebra and the heat death of the universe, the theory suggested in Thomasina's diagram, and who was also born in the same year, could have been Septimus.
[edit]Scene 6
Reverting to 1809, scene 6 reveals that the duel never occurred, with the Chaters instead having departed for the West Indies along with Captain Brice; Mr. Chater is accompanying the expedition as a botanist, and Mrs. Chater as Captain Brice's paramour. Byron has left also. Septimus has killed a rabbit for Thomasina. Septimus returns to find Lady Croom searching for him, after finding two letters that Septimus had written in case he was killed by Chater, one a love letter addressed to herself and the other, written to Thomasina, regarding rice pudding. Lady Croom then invites Septimus to an amorous rendezvous.
[edit]Scene 7
The seventh scene takes place in both 1812 and the present day, with the action of each in the shared setting effectively running concurrently. Furthermore, in the present day, some of the characters are in fancy dress for a party, meaning that the clothes and appearance of both casts are to some extent similar. Chloe is reading newspaper reports on the Byron murder theory as proposed by Bernard, before talking about determinism with Valentine, in a conversation echoing the one between Septimus and Thomasina earlier; Chloe, however, believes that sex is the force throwing off the universe's ordered plan. Valentine uses his computer to further advance the ideas proposed by Thomasina, and discusses the concept of entropy, and whether or not it was Thomasina or Septimus who was the genius behind the theories. Hannah and Valentine mention that "the girl" died in a fire on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
Meanwhile, Thomasina (who is approaching her seventeenth birthday at this point) asks Septimus to teach her to dance. Lady Croom enters, complaining to Mr. Noakes about the noise of his steam engine, before Thomasina explains that the machine operates under the laws of entropy (not yet propounded at the time) which prove that the universe is winding down. In the present, Bernard arrives at the house where he is met by Hannah, who has discovered evidence, a letter showing the true cause of Mr. Chater's death, that totally discredits his argument and vindicates Lord Byron. While Septimus waits for appropriate music for a dance lesson that Thomasina has asked for, he examines the picture she made to illustrate the irreversibility of heat, an action mirrored in the present setting with Valentine and Hannah also looking at the same diagram and discussing its significance. Bernard is forced to depart having been caught in a compromising position with Chloe. Eventually a waltz starts. Septimus dances with Thomasina, their relationship of teacher and pupil increasingly complicated by hints of romance. Gus—Valentine and Chloe's brother, who has remained silent for the entire course of the play, brings Hannah Thomasina's drawing of Septimus and the tortoise together. This confirms Hannah's belief that the hermit, who owned a tortoise called Plautus, is Septimus; after the death of Thomasina, and faced with her challenge to the laws of the universe as propounded by Newton, he indeed becomes the hermit obsessed with applying "honest English algebra" to the question of the future of the universe.

Scene 1
The play opens on 10 April 1809, in a garden front room of a country house in Derbyshire with tutor Septimus Hodge trying to distract his 13 year-old pupil Thomasina from her enquiries as to the meaning of a "carnal embrace" by challenging her to prove Fermat's Last Theorem so he can focus on reading the poem 'The Couch of Eros', a piece written by another character, Mr. Ezra Chater. Thomasina starts questioning why the jam in rice pudding can never be unstirred, which leads her on to the topic of determinism, beginning to develop a theory regarding the chaotic shapes of nature. This however is interrupted by Mr. Chater himself who is shortly revealed to be angry that his wife, Mrs. Chater, was caught engaging in "carnal embrace" in the gazebo with Septimus, and has come intending to challenge Septimus to a duel. Septimus attempts to defuse the situation by heaping oleaginous praise on "The Couch of Eros", a tactic that works, as at this point Chater doesn't realise that it was Septimus who had previously negatively reviewed an earlier work of his, "The Maid of Turkey". Landscape architect Noakes enters, shortly accompanied by Captain Brice and Lady Croom, who then proceed to discuss the proposed modifications to the gardens, with Thomasina drawing a picture of an imaginary hermit (in the biblical style of John the Baptist) onto Mr. Noakes's picture of the garden (with its fantasy hermitage) as he sees it in the future.
[edit]Scene 2
The setting shifts to the present day, with Hannah Jarvis researching about the house, garden and specifically the hermit, for a study centering on Hermits and the romantic imagination. Bernard Nightingale enters, escorted by Chloe Coverley, who fails to impart to Hannah the true identity of Bernard, as he gave Hannah's last book a poor review. Chloe's brother, Valentine Coverley, is doing research into the population biology of the grouse in the surrounding grounds, based on data from the historical "game books". When eventually Bernard's identity is revealed after a verbal misstep by Chloe, Hannah initially reacts angrily but regardless she agrees to share the research material he requested, allowing him to propose his theory that one of the 1809 inhabitants, Mr. Ezra Chater, was killed in a duel by Lord Byron. Bernard notes that records of Chater disappear after 1809; the only other notable Ezra Chater is a botanist.
[edit]Scene 3
The third scene reverts back to the initial timeframe, again in a tutorial session between Septimus and Thomasina, this time in Latin translation. Again the focus of the lesson diverts somewhat, here on to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, which upsets Thomasina, who mourns the loss of the knowledge contained there, though Septimus's response is that all that is lost will eventually turn up again. The discussion is once again interrupted by Mr. Chater, who once again challenges Septimus to a duel, having finally realised, learning off-stage from Lord Byron, that Septimus was behind the negative reviews of his work.
[edit]Scene 4
Hannah rediscovers Thomasina's primer containing her ideas on iteration and chaos theory, recalling the previous scene's assertion that what is lost is eventually rediscovered. Valentine reacts with interest to this, as his own research in the present day centres on similar areas and concepts.
[edit]Scene 5
In the first scene of act 2, Hannah, Valentine and Chloe are given a preview of Bernard's lecture detailing Byron's supposed role in what he believes was Chater's murder. Bernard becomes agitated when Hannah and Valentine challenge the solidity and logic of his argument, responding by launching into a diatribe about the irrelevance of science, before departing to share the lecture in the capital and make promotional appearances in the media. Hannah meanwhile begins to suspect that the hermit of Sidley Park, who was reportedly obsessed with algebra and the heat death of the universe, the theory suggested in Thomasina's diagram, and who was also born in the same year, could have been Septimus.
[edit]Scene 6
Reverting to 1809, scene 6 reveals that the duel never occurred, with the Chaters instead having departed for the West Indies along with Captain Brice; Mr. Chater is accompanying the expedition as a botanist, and Mrs. Chater as Captain Brice's paramour. Byron has left also. Septimus has killed a rabbit for Thomasina. Septimus returns to find Lady Croom searching for him, after finding two letters that Septimus had written in case he was killed by Chater, one a love letter addressed to herself and the other, written to Thomasina, regarding rice pudding. Lady Croom then invites Septimus to an amorous rendezvous.
[edit]Scene 7
The seventh scene takes place in both 1812 and the present day, with the action of each in the shared setting effectively running concurrently. Furthermore, in the present day, some of the characters are in fancy dress for a party, meaning that the clothes and appearance of both casts are to some extent similar. Chloe is reading newspaper reports on the Byron murder theory as proposed by Bernard, before talking about determinism with Valentine, in a conversation echoing the one between Septimus and Thomasina earlier; Chloe, however, believes that sex is the force throwing off the universe's ordered plan. Valentine uses his computer to further advance the ideas proposed by Thomasina, and discusses the concept of entropy, and whether or not it was Thomasina or Septimus who was the genius behind the theories. Hannah and Valentine mention that "the girl" died in a fire on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
Meanwhile, Thomasina (who is approaching her seventeenth birthday at this point) asks Septimus to teach her to dance. Lady Croom enters, complaining to Mr. Noakes about the noise of his steam engine, before Thomasina explains that the machine operates under the laws of entropy (not yet propounded at the time) which prove that the universe is winding down. In the present, Bernard arrives at the house where he is met by Hannah, who has discovered evidence, a letter showing the true cause of Mr. Chater's death, that totally discredits his argument and vindicates Lord Byron. While Septimus waits for appropriate music for a dance lesson that Thomasina has asked for, he examines the picture she made to illustrate the irreversibility of heat, an action mirrored in the present setting with Valentine and Hannah also looking at the same diagram and discussing its significance. Bernard is forced to depart having been caught in a compromising position with Chloe. Eventually a waltz starts. Septimus dances with Thomasina, their relationship of teacher and pupil increasingly complicated by hints of romance. Gus—Valentine and Chloe's brother, who has remained silent for the entire course of the play, brings Hannah Thomasina's drawing of Septimus and the tortoise together. This confirms Hannah's belief that the hermit, who owned a tortoise called Plautus, is Septimus; after the death of Thomasina, and faced with her challenge to the laws of the universe as propounded by Newton, he indeed becomes the hermit obsessed with applying "honest English algebra" to the question of the future of the universe.

Scene 1
The play opens on 10 April 1809, in a garden front room of a country house in Derbyshire with tutor Septimus Hodge trying to distract his 13 year-old pupil Thomasina from her enquiries as to the meaning of a "carnal embrace" by challenging her to prove Fermat's Last Theorem so he can focus on reading the poem 'The Couch of Eros', a piece written by another character, Mr. Ezra Chater. Thomasina starts questioning why the jam in rice pudding can never be unstirred, which leads her on to the topic of determinism, beginning to develop a theory regarding the chaotic shapes of nature. This however is interrupted by Mr. Chater himself who is shortly revealed to be angry that his wife, Mrs. Chater, was caught engaging in "carnal embrace" in the gazebo with Septimus, and has come intending to challenge Septimus to a duel. Septimus attempts to defuse the situation by heaping oleaginous praise on "The Couch of Eros", a tactic that works, as at this point Chater doesn't realise that it was Septimus who had previously negatively reviewed an earlier work of his, "The Maid of Turkey". Landscape architect Noakes enters, shortly accompanied by Captain Brice and Lady Croom, who then proceed to discuss the proposed modifications to the gardens, with Thomasina drawing a picture of an imaginary hermit (in the biblical style of John the Baptist) onto Mr. Noakes's picture of the garden (with its fantasy hermitage) as he sees it in the future.
[edit]Scene 2
The setting shifts to the present day, with Hannah Jarvis researching about the house, garden and specifically the hermit, for a study centering on Hermits and the romantic imagination. Bernard Nightingale enters, escorted by Chloe Coverley, who fails to impart to Hannah the true identity of Bernard, as he gave Hannah's last book a poor review. Chloe's brother, Valentine Coverley, is doing research into the population biology of the grouse in the surrounding grounds, based on data from the historical "game books". When eventually Bernard's identity is revealed after a verbal misstep by Chloe, Hannah initially reacts angrily but regardless she agrees to share the research material he requested, allowing him to propose his theory that one of the 1809 inhabitants, Mr. Ezra Chater, was killed in a duel by Lord Byron. Bernard notes that records of Chater disappear after 1809; the only other notable Ezra Chater is a botanist.
[edit]Scene 3
The third scene reverts back to the initial timeframe, again in a tutorial session between Septimus and Thomasina, this time in Latin translation. Again the focus of the lesson diverts somewhat, here on to the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, which upsets Thomasina, who mourns the loss of the knowledge contained there, though Septimus's response is that all that is lost will eventually turn up again. The discussion is once again interrupted by Mr. Chater, who once again challenges Septimus to a duel, having finally realised, learning off-stage from Lord Byron, that Septimus was behind the negative reviews of his work.
[edit]Scene 4
Hannah rediscovers Thomasina's primer containing her ideas on iteration and chaos theory, recalling the previous scene's assertion that what is lost is eventually rediscovered. Valentine reacts with interest to this, as his own research in the present day centres on similar areas and concepts.
[edit]Scene 5
In the first scene of act 2, Hannah, Valentine and Chloe are given a preview of Bernard's lecture detailing Byron's supposed role in what he believes was Chater's murder. Bernard becomes agitated when Hannah and Valentine challenge the solidity and logic of his argument, responding by launching into a diatribe about the irrelevance of science, before departing to share the lecture in the capital and make promotional appearances in the media. Hannah meanwhile begins to suspect that the hermit of Sidley Park, who was reportedly obsessed with algebra and the heat death of the universe, the theory suggested in Thomasina's diagram, and who was also born in the same year, could have been Septimus.
[edit]Scene 6
Reverting to 1809, scene 6 reveals that the duel never occurred, with the Chaters instead having departed for the West Indies along with Captain Brice; Mr. Chater is accompanying the expedition as a botanist, and Mrs. Chater as Captain Brice's paramour. Byron has left also. Septimus has killed a rabbit for Thomasina. Septimus returns to find Lady Croom searching for him, after finding two letters that Septimus had written in case he was killed by Chater, one a love letter addressed to herself and the other, written to Thomasina, regarding rice pudding. Lady Croom then invites Septimus to an amorous rendezvous.
[edit]Scene 7
The seventh scene takes place in both 1812 and the present day, with the action of each in the shared setting effectively running concurrently. Furthermore, in the present day, some of the characters are in fancy dress for a party, meaning that the clothes and appearance of both casts are to some extent similar. Chloe is reading newspaper reports on the Byron murder theory as proposed by Bernard, before talking about determinism with Valentine, in a conversation echoing the one between Septimus and Thomasina earlier; Chloe, however, believes that sex is the force throwing off the universe's ordered plan. Valentine uses his computer to further advance the ideas proposed by Thomasina, and discusses the concept of entropy, and whether or not it was Thomasina or Septimus who was the genius behind the theories. Hannah and Valentine mention that "the girl" died in a fire on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
Meanwhile, Thomasina (who is approaching her seventeenth birthday at this point) asks Septimus to teach her to dance. Lady Croom enters, complaining to Mr. Noakes about the noise of his steam engine, before Thomasina explains that the machine operates under the laws of entropy (not yet propounded at the time) which prove that the universe is winding down. In the present, Bernard arrives at the house where he is met by Hannah, who has discovered evidence, a letter showing the true cause of Mr. Chater's death, that totally discredits his argument and vindicates Lord Byron. While Septimus waits for appropriate music for a dance lesson that Thomasina has asked for, he examines the picture she made to illustrate the irreversibility of heat, an action mirrored in the present setting with Valentine and Hannah also looking at the same diagram and discussing its significance. Bernard is forced to depart having been caught in a compromising position with Chloe. Eventually a waltz starts. Septimus dances with Thomasina, their relationship of teacher and pupil increasingly complicated by hints of romance. Gus—Valentine and Chloe's brother, who has remained silent for the entire course of the play, brings Hannah Thomasina's drawing of Septimus and the tortoise together. This confirms Hannah's belief that the hermit, who owned a tortoise called Plautus, is Septimus; after the death of Thomasina, and faced with her challenge to the laws of the universe as propounded by Newton, he indeed becomes the hermit obsessed with applying "honest English algebra" to the question of the future of the universe.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna. But Hermann Merz, a manufacturer and baptised Jew married to Catholic Gretl, has moved up in the world. Gathered in the Merz apartment in a fashionable part of the city, Hermann’s extended family are at the heart of Tom Stoppard’s epic yet intimate drama. By the time we have taken leave of them, Austria has passed through the convulsions of war, revolution, impoverishment, annexation by Nazi Germany and – for Austrian Jews – the Holocaust in which 65,000 of them were murdered. It is for the survivors to pass on a story which hasn’t ended yet.
Regarded as ‘Britain’s greatest living playwright’ (The Times), Tom Stoppard’s new play, directed by Patrick Marber, is an intimate drama with an epic sweep; the story of a family who made good.
Leopoldstadt is a passionate drama of love, family and endurance. Tom Stoppard’s most humane and heart-breaking play.

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

丹麦王子哈姆雷特的父亲意外死亡，母亲嫁给了他的叔叔——新的国王，哈姆雷特认定是新国王杀父夺母篡取王位，便假装疯癫伺机复仇，一场明争暗斗在宫廷展开。
两个小人物：罗森格兰兹和吉尔登斯吞，被国王召见，他们被委派护送哈姆雷特到英国去。这两个蒙在鼓里的人从一开始就一直在扔钱币打赌、无聊可笑地探讨人生和他们所处的世界、好奇地窥探宫廷里那些他们不明白的秘密，完全没有想到他们是在执行国王企图杀死王子的密谋，更没有意识到命运使他们不明不白地送了命。
莎士比亚的故事，换了从两个不相干的小人物的角度来叙述，又好笑，又悲惨，这是现代人眼中的王子复仇记。

Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brain-science institute, is nursing a private sorrow and a troubling question at work, where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness?

This is ‘the hard problem’ which puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues who include her first mentor Spike, her boss Leo and the billionaire founder of the institute, Jerry.

Is the day coming when the computer and the fMRI scanner will answer all the questions psychology can ask?

Meanwhile Hilary needs a miracle, and she is prepared to pray for one.

《乌托帮彼岸》由《航行》、《失事》、《获救》组成，描写了十九世纪激荡在俄罗斯乃至整个欧洲上空的革命风云。全剧时间绵延，从1833年直到1868年，场景辽阔，莫斯科、巴黎、德累斯顿、尼斯、伦敦、日内瓦等名城相继展现；人物众多，巴枯宁，赫尔岑、别林斯墓、屠格涅夫、车尔尼雪夫斯基、卢格、科苏特、琼斯、马克斯托帕善于让天平两边取得平衡，让我们在革命的悲剧中，看到勇敢、正直、慷慨等等人性的闪光点；在人生的悲剧中，看到亲情、爱情和友情的温暖美好。他把严肃的历史写得诙谐有趣，把沉重的思想表述得富含诗意。

斯托帕的剧作思想与娱乐并重，在荒诞闹剧和浪漫情事下掩藏着人生的悲凉况味。他也许很愿意成为典型的王尔德剧中人物：用玩世不恭来表达真诚和严肃。斯托帕丰富了二十世纪六十年代以后直至今日的戏剧时代，用他的巧智，他的深厚，他的华彩词章，还有他的魔术般多变的戏剧手段。

《乌托帮彼岸》由《航行》、《失事》、《获救》组成，描写了十九世纪激荡在俄罗斯乃至整个欧洲上空的革命风云。全剧时间绵延，从1833年直到1868年，场景辽阔，莫斯科、巴黎、德累斯顿、尼斯、伦敦、日内瓦等名城相继展现；人物众多，巴枯宁，赫尔岑、别林斯墓、屠格涅夫、车尔尼雪夫斯基、卢格、科苏特、琼斯、马克斯托帕善于让天平两边取得平衡，让我们在革命的悲剧中，看到勇敢、正直、慷慨等等人性的闪光点；在人生的悲剧中，看到亲情、爱情和友情的温暖美好。他把严肃的历史写得诙谐有趣，把沉重的思想表述得富含诗意。

斯托帕的剧作思想与娱乐并重，在荒诞闹剧和浪漫情事下掩藏着人生的悲凉况味。他也许很愿意成为典型的王尔德剧中人物：用玩世不恭来表达真诚和严肃。斯托帕丰富了二十世纪六十年代以后直至今日的戏剧时代，用他的巧智，他的深厚，他的华彩词章，还有他的魔术般多变的戏剧手段。

《乌托帮彼岸》由《航行》、《失事》、《获救》组成，描写了十九世纪激荡在俄罗斯乃至整个欧洲上空的革命风云。全剧时间绵延，从1833年直到1868年，场景辽阔，莫斯科、巴黎、德累斯顿、尼斯、伦敦、日内瓦等名城相继展现；人物众多，巴枯宁，赫尔岑、别林斯墓、屠格涅夫、车尔尼雪夫斯基、卢格、科苏特、琼斯、马克斯托帕善于让天平两边取得平衡，让我们在革命的悲剧中，看到勇敢、正直、慷慨等等人性的闪光点；在人生的悲剧中，看到亲情、爱情和友情的温暖美好。他把严肃的历史写得诙谐有趣，把沉重的思想表述得富含诗意。

斯托帕的剧作思想与娱乐并重，在荒诞闹剧和浪漫情事下掩藏着人生的悲凉况味。他也许很愿意成为典型的王尔德剧中人物：用玩世不恭来表达真诚和严肃。斯托帕丰富了二十世纪六十年代以后直至今日的戏剧时代，用他的巧智，他的深厚，他的华彩词章，还有他的魔术般多变的戏剧手段。

《乌托帮彼岸》由《航行》、《失事》、《获救》组成，描写了十九世纪激荡在俄罗斯乃至整个欧洲上空的革命风云。全剧时间绵延，从1833年直到1868年，场景辽阔，莫斯科、巴黎、德累斯顿、尼斯、伦敦、日内瓦等名城相继展现；人物众多，巴枯宁，赫尔岑、别林斯墓、屠格涅夫、车尔尼雪夫斯基、卢格、科苏特、琼斯、马克斯托帕善于让天平两边取得平衡，让我们在革命的悲剧中，看到勇敢、正直、慷慨等等人性的闪光点；在人生的悲剧中，看到亲情、爱情和友情的温暖美好。他把严肃的历史写得诙谐有趣，把沉重的思想表述得富含诗意。

斯托帕的剧作思想与娱乐并重，在荒诞闹剧和浪漫情事下掩藏着人生的悲凉况味。他也许很愿意成为典型的王尔德剧中人物：用玩世不恭来表达真诚和严肃。斯托帕丰富了二十世纪六十年代以后直至今日的戏剧时代，用他的巧智，他的深厚，他的华彩词章，还有他的魔术般多变的戏剧手段。