Who says there's nothing to do in Hanover?
Not Samuel West, star of the College's summer production, "Arcadia," that's for sure.
Sitting in the office of "Arcadia" director James Loehlin, the boyish- looking West talks about his stay here at the College -- a whirlwind of hiking, canoeing, Hanover dining, frat partying and even attending a semi-formal.
No question about it--the 31-year old British star of acclaimed films such as "Howard's End" (1992) and "Carrington" (1994), has been having a "delightful" time at the College.
Garbed in loose, flaxen pants and shirt,West also calls the College a "perfect place to work on a play."
West, the son of thespian parents, said he was offered a role in the "Arcadia" production by Loehlin, an old friend from Oxford University where both had been members of a dramatic society. West played leading roles in two student productions directed by Loehlin.
This past winter, the two worked together again during the Drama Department's foreign study program in London. West conducted theater workshops with Dartmouth students whom he glowingly described as "hard-working" and intelligent.
So with such positive experiences with all things Dartmouth and a chance to be stateside, it comes as no surprise that West said he was excited by the offer.
The play itself -- while not new to West, who had been cast in the original 1993 London production -- is far from being old hat for him.
In fact, West said it was a "great privelege" to work again with such an "important play in the the history of theater."
This time around, West plays Septimus, a tutor who becomes embroiled in a web of "sexual intrigue" during the 19th century, involving the lady of an English country house, her houseguest and her daughter.
The tale alternates between scenes set in the 1800s and the present in which descendants of the the lady interpret, often erroneously, events of the past.
In the London production at the National Theater, West played Valentine the mathematician, one of the play's modern players. West did so much research about mathematical theories that at the end of the London run, he had amassed quite a math library.
While ostensibly about human nature, "heat" and "attraction -- sexual, mathematical, physical," West also cited "Arcadia" for its great humor.
"Stoppard was very wary of ideas that could not be explained in a humorous way," West said of the playwright who attended every rehearsal of the London production of "Arcadia."
While West has worked with the best of them -- including Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson -- he praises the student actors for possessing just as much "energy and intelligence" as seasoned pros.
After the "Arcadia" run, West plans to explore America on a cross-country road trip to Los Angeles.
