Watching Arcadia is the mental equivalent of going for a run along the promenade on a crisp, clear day – both challenging and exhilarating with some beautiful experiences along the way.

Byron-obsessed academic Bernard Nightingale believes he has made the literary discovery of the century in stately home Sidley Park, but flashbacks to the country pile in the 18th century suggest he has missed the true story.

The two time periods in Tom Stoppard’s cerebral play criss-cross almost seamlessly through Blanche McIntyre’s careful direction. The audience is regularly in on the joke as the present day academics extrapolate theories from tiny pieces of evidence, which are then refuted or twisted  in the next scene by what actually happened.

Difficult subject matter ranging from chaos theory to Fermat’s Last Theorem is expertly handled by Stoppard, preventing the audience from getting lost. Slowly chaos takes over from order, reflected by Lady Croom’s carefully landscaped garden being transformed into a gothic wilderness by fashionable gardener Richard Noakes.

Robert Cavanah is excellent as the odious and arrogant Nightingale, with Flora Montgomery providing a perfect academic foil.

Meanwhile in the 18th century Wilf Scolding stands out as the charismatic tutor Septimus Hodge, giving his old school friend Byron a run for his money with his womanising and quick wit.