Orlando

December 2 – 9, 2023

Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre

Orlando

By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Vanessa Ogbuehi
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre

To close out the fall 2023 semester at the Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre, Boston University School of Theatre presented Orlando, based on the Virginia Woolf novel. Sarah Ruhl’s play follows the story of a young nobleman in a love affair with Queen Elizabeth I. As he endeavors to make his way as a poet and lover, Orlando’s escapades keep him at the heart of a maximalist, over-the-top tale where gender and gender preferences shift regularly, usually with hilarious results.

The production was helmed by director Vanessa Ogbuehi, a Philadelphia-based theatre director, performer, and producer of new and devised work. She has worked with a range of artists, companies, and institutions to create and present original pieces, including Double Edge Theatre, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Grammy-winning mezzo soprano Maren Montalbano, Theatre Horizon, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, and Villanova University. Presently, she is the Director of Digital/Film/Interactive at Pig Iron Theatre Company, and is devising a new solo-performance on shadow personalities.

“In this magical but intimate love story through space, time, and gender, you’ll discover the meaning of life or nothing at all. Look closely,” says Ogbuehi. “This play is an intimate fantasia that unravels the social, political, and gender binaries holding our reality together. Though wild and epic in scale, this very human story shows us what true love looks like amid messy growing pains.”

This play is an intimate fantasia that unravels the social, political, and gender binaries holding our reality together. Though wild and epic in scale, this very human story shows us what true love looks like amid messy growing pains.
Vanessa Ogbuehi, director

CAST

Louie Rude

Trevor Turnbow

Alan Kuang

Emma Weller

Kendall McShane

Alexa Connors

Annika Hegelson

Dylan Fineman

Dylan Brandon Mejil

Leah Del Rosario

Rachel Harris

Program

Flip through the program book to learn more about the production.

A tour of the home, courtesy of Assistant Director/Co-director of Movement Lana Sage

Orlando by Sarah Ruhl at BU's Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre

“An intimate fantasia” at Booth Theatre

Boston University School of Theatre brought Sarah Ruhl’s play – “an intimate fantasia that unravels the social, political, and gender binaries holding our reality together” – to BU’s Booth Theatre from December 2 – 9, 2023.