Showing posts with label Orlando. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orlando. Show all posts

Monday, May 26, 2025

"ORLANDO: A Rhapsody" by Vinora Epp at the Southern Theater

In her directorial debut ORLANDO: A Rhapsody, Paris-based theater artist Vinora Epp talks about growing up in a theater, and the wonder and joy that brought to her childhood. The theater that she speaks of is one that's familiar to many in #TCTheater - Tony-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune, which sadly closed its doors in 2008 just two years before I started this blog. Vinora saw her father Steven Epp, now Co-Artistic Director of The Moving Company, play Hamlet when she was seven years old, and was so taken by it that she wanted to play Hamlet too, unfazed by the fact that she's a girl and typically girls don't get to play Hamlet. Thus began a lifelong exploration of gender and storytelling, culminating in this piece that she co-wrote and performs with her father. Combining the writing of Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and personal stories, the daughter-father duo weaves a compelling and fluid narrative. ORLANDO: A Rhapsody performs at The Southern Theater on off days (typically Sunday through Tuesday) of The Moving Company's lovely original piece at low tide (performing Wednesday through Sunday). There are a couple of days with performances of both shows, which would make a nice double feature.

Sunday, March 13, 2022

"Orlando" by Theatre Pro Rata at the Crane Theater

Although based on a 1928 Virginia Woolf novel and adapted into a play around the turn of this century by Sarah Ruhl, Orlando speaks very much to this time, with its exploration of gender fluidity, and it's skewering of societal norms around gender identity and gender roles. Written in a modern narrative style, with the ensemble taking turns describing the story as it plays out, there's a playfulness to it despite the seriousness of the ideas presented. Theatre Pro Rata has assembled an excellent cast and team to bring the complex, modern, insightful story to life at the Crane Theater (through March 27, click here for info and tickets).