Arcadia to transfer to the West End at reconfigured venue

Carrie Cracknell’s sell-out Old Vic production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia is to transfer to the Duke of York’s Theatre this summer, it has been announced.

The revival – the first time the play had been staged at the Old Vic – ran from 24 January to 21 March 2026 as part of outgoing artistic director Matthew Warchus’s final season at the venue.

The production received two Olivier nominations earlier this year: Best Revival, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Isis Hainsworth. It is the second time the play has been housed at the Duke of York’s, following David Leveaux’s 2009 production with Dan Stevens and Nancy Carroll.

Stoppard, who died in November 2025 aged 88, premiered Arcadia at the National Theatre in 1993, where it won the Olivier Award for Best Play.

It will run from 20 June to 12 September, with the venue adapted into the round for the production.

Producer Sonia Friedman said: “Bringing Arcadia to the West End this summer feels less like a revival and more like a responsibility.

 “Tom was a great friend, and over more than twenty years as his producer I had the privilege of living closely with his work: watching it evolve, seeing how rigorously, deeply, and mischievously he thought, and how much he cared about every detail, whether it was a new work or a revival. Arcadia, though, always stood apart. It holds so much of what made him extraordinary – its playfulness, precision, wit, romance, and that deep curiosity about how we make sense of the world.

“Coming back to it now, I’m struck all over again by how alive it feels. Its ideas about time, truth, and what we can and can’t know don’t belong to the past, they feel immediate, even urgent. But what moves me most is its humanity: the way it holds intellect and emotion in the same breath, never letting one overshadow the other. That’s Tom.

 “This production, set in the intimacy of the Duke of York’s Theatre and led by Carrie Cracknell, captures that balance beautifully. It’s bold, clear-eyed, and full of feeling. For me, it’s not just a return to a great play, but a way of honouring a friendship and a body of work that meant the world to me, and to generations of audiences over the past decades.”

Cracknell directed an Old Vic cast led by Hainsworth as Thomasina Coverly and Seamus Dillane as Septimus Hodge, with Leila Farzad as Hannah Jarvis and Prasanna Puwanarajah as Bernard Nightingale. Gabriel Akuwudike, Fiona Button, Angus Cooper, Holly Godliman and Matthew Steer complete the company.

Joining Cracknell on the Old Vic creative team were Alex Eales (set design), Suzanne Cave (costume design), Guy Hoare (lighting), Donato Wharton (sound), Ira Mandela Siobhan (movement), Stuart Earl (composer) and Serena Hill (casting).

The West End cast is to be announced, with tickets on sale from midday.