Orlando (Ruhl)
- Full Length Play, Adaptations (Literature), Dramatic Comedy, 1900-1910, 16th Century / Elizabethan, Present Day, 18th Century, 17th Century
- 4M or F
- ISBN: 9780573711312
Spanning three centuries, Orlando chronicles the boisterous adventures of a young nobleman in Queen Elizabeth’s court who awakens in the middle of his life to discover he is now a she – and immortal to boot. Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel is a wild, fantastical trip through space, time and gender.
Description
- Full Length Play
- Adaptations (Literature), Dramatic Comedy
- 105 minutes
- Time Period: 1900-1910, 16th Century / Elizabethan, Present Day, 18th Century, 17th Century
- Target Audience: Adult
- Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
- Cautions: Mild Adult Themes
- Performance Group:
- College Theatre / Student, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre
This fresh stage adaptation from Sarah Ruhl uses narrative and a chorus to enact lyrical, instant and whimsical transformations as Orlando travels through countless epochs.
REVIEWS:
"Ms. Ruhl, the gifted playwright whose work has been characterized by a mixture of the feminist and the fabulist that finds a natural echo in Orlando, modestly cedes the stage to Woolf in this economical adaptation of Woolf’s 1928 novel... The stage Orlando faithfully recreates the incidents Woolf uses to illustrate her ideas about the fluidity of gender and identity, and the great mysteries of time."
The New York Times
"It all suits the stage like a dream, slippery and fantastical, and Sarah Ruhl’s 10-year old adaptation is a swift precis that never feels filleted as it muses on identity, history and human subjectivity."
The Guardian
"Ruhl’s script is a jewel."
Vulture
"[Woolf’s] 1928 novel Orlando, now adapted by Sarah Ruhl in a story-theater style... preserves the writer’s playful cadences and much of her wit."
The Village Voice
"Simplicity is magical in Orlando. That’s as true for Sarah Ruhl’s lovingly crafted adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s time-bending, gender-shifting novel as it is for Woolf’s mesmerizing prose."
SF Gate
"Ruhl’s adaptation is respectful of the original, following the story precisely, and making extensive use of Wolfe’s original language... rollicking good fun... Admirers of Woolf and Ruhl will be very happy with this [play], as will anybody looking for a good time, lots of laughter, and something to think about."
Examiner
Characters
- Casting: 4M or F
- Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Ensemble cast, Flexible casting, Room for Extras, Expandable casting, Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
- Casting Notes: The Chorus may be cast with all kinds of genders, may be double-cast, or may be played by as few as three gifted transformational virtuosic actors or as many as you can fit on a stage and pay. They should seldom speak all at the same time. Use your imagination when assigning lines to the ensemble.
SASHA
QUEEN ELIZABETH
SHAKESPEARE
THE ARCHDUKE/ARCHDUCHESS
MARMADUKE BONTHROP SHELMERDINE, ESQUIRE
MISS PENELOPE HARTOPP
A WASHERWOMAN
FAVILLA CLORINDA
EUPHROSYNE
A RUSSIAN SEA-MAN
OTHELLO
DESDEMONA
A SEA CAPTAIN
A MAID – GRIMSDITCH
A MAID – DUPPER
SALESPERSON
Available Material
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Orlando (Ruhl) Script
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An adaptation of the “longest and most charming love letter in literature,” written by Virginia Woolf for her lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is a theatrical, wild, fantastical trip through space, time and gender. Orlando’s adventures begin as a young man, when he serves as courtier to Queen Elizabeth. Through many centuries of living, he becomes a 20th-century woman, trying to sort out her existence. |
$24.95 |
