{"id":4952,"date":"2023-02-15T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/?p=4952"},"modified":"2023-06-11T22:29:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T22:29:35","slug":"orlando-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/?p=4952","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For better or worse, time travel has been one of the most common themes in the world of entertainment. Look no further than to the success of Avengers Endgame or the Olivier Award-winning Back to the Future musical adaptation. So, it was no surprise that Neil Bartlett\u2019s adaptation of Virginia Woolf\u2019s \u201cOrlando,\u201d one of the oldest texts to employ time travel, felt passionate, fascinating, and giddy. And it couldn\u2019t have arrived at a more opportune time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the titular character played by Golden Globe winner Emma Corrin, \u201cOrlando\u201d offers a merry chase through not only centuries but also themes of love, gender, and sexuality. Orlando asks: \u201cWho am I\u2026Who do I love?\u201d those questions function as the cornerstone for the 90-minute adventure. Corrin offers a tour de force and personal performance, channelling their own experience as a non-binary actor. An honourable mention also goes to Deborah Findlay\u2019s Mrs. Grimsditch, functioning as our fourth wall-breaking chauffeur through the eras. Also accompanying Orlando is Virginia Woolf herself, or rather, many Virginias, who, like our protagonist, span different ages and genders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Image Credit: Marc Brenner<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrlando\u201d doesn\u2019t shy from visual storytelling by offering a spectacle in costume design. Whether it be Queen Elizabeth I bathed with an imposing red aura, emphasizing her rule, or Orlando himself, whose rather plain initial outfit symbolizes his innocence. The periods explored are underscored primarily by what the characters wear throughout the play. This is elaborated on further once Orlando makes his nonchalant transformation into a woman. Now, what she chooses to wear signals where she is in time and how people will treat her as a woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Orlando\u2019s struggles with love may not appear entirely relatable for most audience members\u2014then again, Tinder didn\u2019t exist during Woolf\u2019s time. Her journey of self-discovery is one going at breakneck speeds. While adjusting to a changing world in our day-to-day lives can feel intimidating, Orlando must do the same for 300+ years worth of history. For most, a journey of that nature would mean falling into despair, but Orlando approaches it with curiosity and a sense of fluidity that mirrors her own identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when gender identity has been under the spotlight of a toxic culture war, \u201cOrlando\u201d is like a breath of fresh air that doesn\u2019t feel the need to address any element of the discourse. Instead, it relishes freedom and the present. Orlando\u2019s favourite time\u2026 is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4\/5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A timely story of self-discovery.\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_singular_sidebar":"right","csco_page_header_type":"default","csco_page_load_nextpost":"default","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,35],"tags":[30,12,39,38,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-4952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reviews","8":"category-written","9":"tag-culture","10":"tag-lifestyle","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-nyu","13":"tag-review","14":"cs-entry","15":"cs-video-wrap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4957,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952\/revisions\/4957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabrielvasconcellos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}