Playwright inspires crowd

The medieval decor of the Harrison Auditorium contrasted with the witty, yet elegant tone of Tom Stoppard's lecture yesterday, as the celebrated playwright vividly discussed the art of staging a play. The event marked the convergence of the Penn Reading Project with the Steinberg Symposium, according to Christopher Dennis, director of Academic Programs in Residence. "In a similar way, Arcadia, [the focus of the 1995-96 reading project], signaled a new beginning of intellectual commitment for students as they came together in Philadelphia from all over the world," Dennis said in his introduction of the playwright. Stoppard's entrance had a spellbinding effect on the audience, which was packed with members of the University and Philadelphia communities. And Stoppard's relaxing tone immediately set the mood for the evening. The lighting created a larger-than-life silhouette of Stoppard, reflecting his actions in shadows on the stage. While this effect may have been a fluke, it could be a metaphor for how the public perceived the man often referred to as "the greatest living playwright." "I think Tom Stoppard is the most wonderful person," said La Salle University Professor Helena White, who recently directed Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. "He is engaging, marvelously intelligent and a nice person. If I could listen to anyone speak, I would choose him." Stoppard entertained the audience with a continual string of tales on topics ranging from his college years to the writing process. His underlying theme seemed to be that there is no uniform equation to produce the perfect play. In an attempt to describe the contribution a director has in the creation of a performance, Stoppard drew from his experience with a production of The Tempest in which he acted during college. "At the close of the play, the main character, Ariel, ran out of the audience's sight on a contraption that made it appear that he was running on water," he explained. "Ariel continued to run until he disappeared into the fog and out of eyesight. "Then there was a huge whoosh and two firecrackers lit up the sky," added an excited Stoppard. "All of this came from the stage directions -- exit Ariel." With the audience captivated by his story, Stoppard went on to discuss the importance of directors molding scripts to their own style. "I could easily attend eight Shakespeare plays and enjoy six of them," he said. "The right equation for the perfect play is so mysterious that you can get the right answer several different ways." According to Stoppard, the director is responsible for the chemistry of a performance and should not be hesitant to take risks and modify pieces of a script. He explained that a good play intermingles music, intellect, movement and vision. By this point in the lecture, Stoppard had developed a rapport with the audience and chose to be frank with them. "You know what," he said. "I don't want you to think that I am not showing enough respect for the University by not wearing a tie. I have one in my bag -- I just forgot to put it on." After this comedic interlude, Stoppard returned to his lecture and expanded upon the attributes of a good play. "The best plays use narrative as a storytelling force," he said. "True theater is a storytelling art form." Then Stoppard opened the floor to questions from the audience, many of which focused on how he had developed his works. Stoppard explained that he never has a play planned out before he begins the writing process. "I try to fill myself up with information by doing extensive reading," the playwright said. "Then I pour out the information page by page." Stoppard disclosed that he did not know how Arcadia would finish until he wrote the last page. He also explained that he can only compose one play at a time. "I work on a play until I have nothing left," he said. "I can sometimes work simultaneously on a movie script, but never on another play." The final subject Stoppard tackled was his writing process. He was quick to dissolve the romantic notions about writing. "I never get any work done on a play unless I am thinking about it," Stoppard said. "I have to be sitting at my desk with a pen, a cup of coffee and a cigarette -- with all the children out of the house. If the conditions are perfect, there's a chance that I will get a good inch forward."