Stoppard on the radio

In The Daily Telegraph, Gillian Reynolds celebrates the BBC's season of Tom Stoppard plays on the radio.

The test of this season for me was Arcadia. I saw it first at the National Theatre, admired it more than I liked it until the very last scene when, quite suddenly, I got it (or thought I did), the past fused with the present and the tears came to my eyes. What was I crying for? Happiness, I think.

The next time I saw it on the stage, in an amateur production, I thought it wouldn't happen again because I'd see it coming. I didn't. Nor did I with the radio version, on Radio 4's Saturday Play a couple of weeks ago. Out of the blue again came that feeling of mysterious resolution, of being plaited into the workings of time, feeling that all was clear and right, if only for that moment.