Casting announced for Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia at The Old Vic in London

ARCADIA UPDATE: Arcadia is transferring into the West End, playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London from 20 June 2026. Read more about Arcadia in the West End

The Old Vic theatre in London has announced casting for its forthcoming revival of the late Tom Stoppard’s award-winning play Arcadia.

Arcadia is playing at The Old Vic from 24 January to 21 March 2026.

Directed by Carrie Cracknell (Sea Wall/A Life, The Grapes of Wrath), Arcadia will star Isis Hainsworth (Romeo & Juliet, Almeida; The House of Bernarda Alba, National Theatre) as Thomasina Coverly, Seamus Dillane (Richard II, Bridge; Anna Karenina, Chichester) as Septimus Hodge, Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie; Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy) as Hannah Jarvis, Prasanna Puwanarajah (Payback; Patrick Melrose) as Bernard Nightingale, and Gabriel Akuwudike (Macbeth, The Chelsea Detective) as Richard Noakes.

The production also stars Fiona Button as Lady Croom, Angus Cooper as Valentine Coverly, Tim Frances as Jellaby, Holly Godliman as Chloë Coverly, William Lawlor as Gus Coverly / Augustus Coverly, Colin Mace as Capt. Brice RN, and Matthew Steer as Ezra Chater.

Understudies are David Buttle as Bernard Nightingale, Ezra Chater, Capt. Brice RN, Jellaby, Richard Noakes; Keziah Hayes as Thomasina Coverly, Chloë Coverly; George Lorimer as Septimus Hodge, Valentine Coverly, Gus/Augustus Coverly; and Lizzie Schenk as Hannah Jarvis, Lady Croom.

Arcadia is written by multi-award-winner Tom Stoppard (Leopoldstadt, Indian Ink, The Invention of Love, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Shakespeare in Love), who died last month aged 88.

Joining director Carrie Cracknell in the creative team are Set Design by Alex Eales, Costume Design by Suzanne Cave, Lighting Design by Guy Hoare, Sound Design by Donato Wharton, Movement by Ira Mandela Siobhan, Composer Stuart Earl, Voice Coach Nia Lynn, and Casting by Serena Hill CDG. The Associate Director is Anna Ryder.

The production will be staged at The Old Vic in-the-round as part of Artistic Director Matthew Warchus’s final season.

Arcadia is set at the elegant estate owned by the Coverly family. Shifting back and forth in time between 1809 and the present, the 1809 scenes reveal a household in transition. As the Arcadian landscape is being transformed into picturesque Gothic gardens, complete with a hermitage, thirteen-year-old Lady Thomasina and her tutor delve into intellectual and romantic issues of the time.

In the present day, the Coverly descendants and two competing scholars are researching a possible scandal at the estate in 1809 involving Lord Byron.

Arcadia moves between the centuries and explores the nature of truth and time, the difference between classical and romantic temperaments, and the disruptive influence of sex on our lives.

Arcadia first premiered at the National Theatre in London in 1993, winning an Olivier Award for Best Play. The drama was last revived in the West End in 2009 at the Duke of York’s Theatre.

What’s on at The Old Vic

Currently playing at The Old Vic is their festive favourite A Christmas Carol (until 10 January 2026), directed by Matthew Warchus and starring Paul Hilton.