Stoppard becomes panel focus

Although Tom Stoppard was supposed to be only one third of a panel discussion entitled "The Landscape of Late Modernism" yesterday, he quickly became the focus of the afternoon. And the capacity crowd of nearly 400 students, faculty and alumni which packed the Annenberg School Auditorium did not seem to mind. Stoppard's busy second day on campus did not end with the panel discussion, which was only the second of three events scheduled to showcase the playwright and author. In an official proclamation last night, Mayor Ed Rendell declared yesterday "Stoppard Day" in the city of Philadelphia. Rendell also gave the author a keychain to the city, as well as a miniature Liberty Bell replica, at a dinner at Eisenlohr Hall held by University President Judith Rodin honoring Stoppard. The discussion earlier in the afternoon also featured English Department Chairperson Wendy Steiner and Music Professor Jeffrey Kallberg. Steiner opened the discussion by asking Stoppard "where you see yourself in relation to other works of this century" and which authors influenced him. Stoppard initially replied that he had difficulty pinpointing particular influences or, by the same token, eliminating other authors. "The question of influence is sometimes as ambiguous as the word itself," he said. But Stoppard did cite Damon Runyon, Samuel Beckett and James Joyce as well-known authors who have affected him. He also mentioned James Saunders, a comparatively obscure British playwright. "It's almost impossible, maybe completely impossible, to write a play which doesn't remind somebody of something else," he said, drawing laughs from the audience. When Steiner probed Stoppard further on where he would place himself in the context of 20th-century literature, Stoppard once again avoided giving a direct answer. "I don't think of myself as part of anything," he said. Stoppard often changed the topic during the discussion, at one point turning a question about aesthetics in his work into an anecdotal monologue about philosophical issues and his "love affair with Ernest Hemingway." Stoppard, who was born in Czechoslovakia but grew up in England, also talked about his friendship with the Czech playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel. Stoppard also revealed his surprising early vision of the final scene in Arcadia. He said he wanted to use the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" as the background music for the scene, which features two couples, two hundred years apart, waltzing in a study room. "I wrote it into the script," Stoppard said. "But I was so ignorant that I didn't know you couldn't waltz to it." A short question and answer session with the audience followed the discussion. While many of those in attendance seemed to enjoy Stoppard's presentation, some said they felt the format did not work well and the topic of modernism was not covered. "The two interrogators were superfluous and hard to understand," said University alumna Annette Fine. But others said they did not mind the focus on Stoppard and his work. "The topic wasn't the thing being discussed, but what was discussed was interesting," College sophomore Cindy Mullock said. Fourth-year English graduate student Leigh Edwards expressed similar feelings. "As an artist, he was really good about talking to academics," she said. And some were simply awed by Stoppard. Andrew Hohns, a senior at Philadelphia's Masterman High School, who asked a question about Stoppard's play Jumpers, said he was thrilled with the playwright's response. Stoppard, who stayed afterward to sign books for 15 minutes, admitted that he played with the format of the discussion. "The trick with these things is to talk about what you want to talk about irrespective of the title," he said. Stoppard also said he appreciated the audience's enthusiasm. "It was a typically friendly Penn audience," he said. Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Jaclyn LaPlaca contributed to this article.

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