ARCADIA is Tom Stoppard’s ingenious Olivier Award-winning time-twisting drama. See it in Salford from September 23 to October 9.

In 1812, a scandal rocked an elegant house in the Derbyshire countryside when a sexual liaison, possibly involving Lord Byron, apparently ended in a fatal duel.

In the present day, ambitious academic Bernard Nightingale and popular historian Hannah Jarvis are trying to uncover exactly what went on two centuries previously.

Arcadia, described by Stoppard as “a detective story and romantic tragedy — with jokes”, is a poignant study of change and decay, the mysteries of the universe and the mysteries of love.

Its wit and exuberance and its passion and poetry continue to make it a modern classic.

* Arcadia is at The Lowry, Salford Quays, from Thursday, September 23 to Saturday, October 9. Tickets £10-£18