Orlando
by Virginia Woolf, adapted by Sarah Ruhl
Dramaturg’s Note
Upon first sight, Orlando is a play about gender roles and their confining nature as social constructions, and while Sarah Ruhl's work undeniably explores this issue with a keen eye for its feminist implications, when considered more deeply, the play, and the 1928 novel by Virginia Woolf upon which it is based, explores the perhaps even more treacherous ground of personal identity and the necessity of defining ourselves through relations to others and the historical time in which we live.
"What makes me me?" might be the prevailing question of the play, one that Orlando faces from the perspective of different genders, social classes, professional positions, and historical circumstances.
Do we get any answers? Well, of course, but perhaps too many, hurling us into the conundrum of sorting out a maelstrom of reactions to Orlando's exploits. If the novel and the play can be said to have a dominant theme, it may be this: we are all multiple selves, yet we are bound within a single body, enmeshed in a single time, surrounded, clothed, pushed around by the societal expectations of the day that cling to the sex of that body and the ideas of that time.
There’s a lot to unpack there, and the organizing principle of the story gives us some clues for engaging its multiplicity: Orlando is a single character who improbably lives four centuries, inside two genders, haunted by a singular love, ultimately learning… well, that's tricky. As Orlando says at the end, "I am about to understand…"
Arriving at understanding is perhaps not the point—it’s what we gain from seeking it that makes the search worthwhile. So maybe it's the journey, not the destination. Enjoy the ride with Orlando.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR and PLAYWRIGHT
The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants
Gender Fluidity
Determination
The Timelessness of Love
Living Truthfully