Friday, September 24, 2010

Theater Review: Orlando

Francesca Faridany, Tom Nelis
Mesmerizing Movement, Lyrical Language Help Strange Tale of Man/Woman Along
By Lauren Yarger
Annie-B Parson’s choreography and director Rebecca Taichman’s attention to detail combine with playwright Sarah Ruhl’s lyrical language to create a mesmerizingly beautiful Classic Stage Company staging of Orlando, the tale of an Elizabethan man who wakes up one day to find himself a woman.

Orlando (Francesca Faridany) enjoys his existence as a courtly man’s man (with very shapely legs), favorite of Queen Elizabeth (a delightfully humorous David Greenspan) and lover of the beautiful Russian princess Sasha (Annika Boras) until he is pursued by a relentless, amorous archduchess (also Greenspan) and requests a transfer to Constantinople. There, he falls into a deep sleep and when he awakes at the age of 30, he discovers to his amazement that he now indwells the body of a woman.

Realizing she can no longer swear, sword fight or do other fun things accepted as normal behavior for men, Orlando learns to adjust, discovering that just moving around in dresses with hoops and farthingales can be challenge enough. She takes a husband, continues to yearn for Sasha and struggles to discover how to survive in her new skin. She lives into the 19th and 20th centuries searching for words to finish the poem she started as a young man hundreds of years ago.

The bizarre tale, adapted from the Virginia Woolf novel, is more a study of self discovery than advocacy for transgender acceptance. A good amount of humor helps keep the story light, as do designer Anita Yavich’s clever costumes which help Greenspan make his quick transitions (Queen Elizabeth’s dress floats down and fastens about him). Tom Nelis and Howard Overshown round out the ensemble helping to narrate the story and personifying Othello, a ship’s captain, Orlando’s husband and other characters along the way.

The production, set to beautiful movement by Parson, is a pleasure to watch (except for an unnecessary unveiling of Faridany’s nude body to prove that she has changed into a woman. Proof of her manhood might have been more compelling, but also completely unnecessary).

Original sound and music design by Christian Frederickson and Ryan Rumery complete the mood, enhanced by Allen Moyer’s simple block of grass transformed from time to time by flowing materials to nice effect below a gilded mirror framing the action from above, almost like a window into the parallel world in which Orlando finds him/herself.

Orlando is surprisingly entertaining and moving. It runs through Oct. 17 at CSC, 136 east 13th St., NYC. Tickets are available by visiting http://www.classicstage,org/.

Christians might also like to know:
• Two women actors kiss
• Nudity
• Lord’s name taken in vain
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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