A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Orlando (Ruhl)
Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4any gender (adult) plus ensemble
by Virginia Woolf
Adapted by Sarah Ruhl
Image: 2024 Signature Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)
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Cast Size
4any gender (adult) plus ensemble -
Duration
105 Minutes -
Subgenre
Fantasy, Adaptation (Literature), Period -
Target Audience
Adult
Details
Summary
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. 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.
History
Cast Attributes
Performing Groups
- Time Period Present Day, 16th Century/Elizabethan, 18th Century, 19th Century, 17th Century
- Setting Various locations. 16th-20th centuries.
- Features Period Costumes
- Duration 105 Minutes
- Cautions
- Mild Adult Themes
Media
“Rollicking good fun... lots of laughter, and something to think about.” – Examiner
“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.’ – 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
Videos
Sarah Ruhl Discusses Orlando
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Orlando – Constellation Theatre Co. Trailer
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Orlando – Scene from Court Theatre, Chicago
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Sarah Ruhl on Orlando
Photos
Image: 2024 Signature Theatre Company Production (Joan Marcus)
Licensing & Materials
- Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
Authors
Sarah Ruhl
Sarah Ruhl’s plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, Orlando, Late ...