Stoppard makes rare appearance at U.

Playwright Tom Stoppard's mission is to attract minds, rather than bodies. As a result, he has been dubbed an unusual seducer. This is evident in the opening scene of Stoppard's Arcadia -- the focus of the Penn Reading Project for 1995-96 -- in which the protagonist Septimus is asked to define carnal embrace. "Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one's arms around a side of beef," the character responds. Stoppard arrived on campus last night and is in hot pursuit of intellectual knowledge. "Tom Stoppard has come to Penn out of curiosity," said Resident Faculty Council and Steinberg Symposium Chairperson Robert Lucid, also an English professor. "He is visiting to hear what the University has to say about his play." According to Lucid, Stoppard is a workaholic. The evidence bears supports Lucid's statement -- Stoppard has written 25 plays, eight screenplays, nine teleplays, nine radio plays and one novel. Some of his most popular works are Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties and The Real Thing. Vanity Fair reports that he was born Thomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia in 1937, and moved to England at the age of eight where he soon delved into the field of journalism. He rose quickly to stardom and, according to Harper's Bazaar, relished in the fact that his work was often quoted. He was once asked what his 1967 play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead -- Hamlet through the eyes of two minor characters -- was about. Stoppard famously told the interviewer, "It's about to make me very rich!" Since then, Stoppard has stayed out of the social scene. But he has remained in the public eye because of his numerous works dealing with everything from math and science to love and passion -- with a little information on the chaos theory thrown in for good measure. And University students will have the opportunity to discuss all of these subjects with Stoppard during his public appearances over the next week. "Stoppard's arrival at Penn marks the combining of the reading project, the scholarly symposium and the Steinberg symposium," explained Penn Reading Project Director and English Professor Chris Dennis. "It is going to be a grand visit." The first public event is being held today at the University Museum's Harrison Auditorium from 4 to 5:30 p.m., according to promotional material. Dennis also said he feels that the public will respond well to the unusual visitor.