• Review For Us
  • List Your Show
  • Advertising
  • Musicals
  • Plays
  • Ballet & Dance
  • Previews
  • First Look
Theatre Weekly
  • Home
  • News
    • West End
    • Off-West End
    • Regional & Tours
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Digital Theatre
  • Tickets
    • Discounts
    • Musicals
    • Plays
    • Opera
    • Dance
    • Concerts
  • VAULT Festival 2023
    • VAULT Previews
    • VAULT Reviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer
No Result
View All Result
Theatre Weekly
  • Home
  • News
    • West End
    • Off-West End
    • Regional & Tours
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Digital Theatre
  • Tickets
    • Discounts
    • Musicals
    • Plays
    • Opera
    • Dance
    • Concerts
  • VAULT Festival 2023
    • VAULT Previews
    • VAULT Reviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer
No Result
View All Result
Theatre Weekly
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews
Emma Corrin Orlando Millicent Wong Sasha. photo by Marc Brenner

Emma Corrin Orlando Millicent Wong Sasha. photo by Marc Brenner

Review: Orlando at the Garrick Theatre

"What was a ground-breaking novel in the early 20th century, is today a stage play that can’t make the same impact"

by Greg Stewart
December 5, 2022
Reading Time: 4 mins read

When Virginia Woolf published Orlando: A Biography almost a century ago, it would have been impossible to predict just how much society would have changed in the way it has, or that this story of a gender-fluid poet, travelling through the ages, would be even more relevant now than when it was written.  This new version of Orlando by Neil Bartlett and directed by Michael Grandage has its premiere at the Garrick Theatre, but seems to miss the mark in more ways than one.

There have, of course, been many adaptations of the novel; Miranda Richardson starred in a one-person production at the Edinburgh Fringe in the mid-nineties, but Woolf’s satirical take on lover and friend Vita Sackville-West has been given perhaps it’s most radical makeover to date.

In the novel, Orlando is teenage boy in the court of Elizabeth I, when the Queen dies, he lands himself a post as Ambassador in Constantinople.  Following a long dead sleep, Orlando awakes to find he has transformed, quite mysteriously from male to female.  Barely aging, Orlando then lives for another 400 years, meeting great poets and writers, while observing the changing world around her.  It’s a satire on sexism, for example exploring how a nobleman can no longer inherit property when he’s no longer a man.

       

This stage version of Orlando bears little resemblance to Woolf’s novel.  The title role is there, and they do indeed live for four centuries, and our Orlando even meets a handful of the characters from the novel, such as Sasha and The Captain, but what little story there was, has evaporated.

There’s a certain wittiness to the script that gives the audience a few chuckles, but it’s not enough to keep anyone fully engaged.  So much of Woolf’s intentions have been removed, yet Woolf plays a bigger role in this version, with almost the entire cast portraying Virginia at some point; a chorus of Woolf’s, displaying all the facets of the author, writing the novel as we watch it.

You mightalso like

The Crown Jewels at The Garrick Theatre

Al Murray, Mel Giedroyc, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Neil Morrissey and Joe Thomas to Star in The Crown Jewels at the Garrick Theatre

The Vortex credit Seamus Ryan

Further Casting Announced for Noël Coward’s The Vortex at Chichester Festival Theatre

Peter McKintosh’s set is essentially a bare stage, with the occasional set piece coming in.  An early scene in which Queen Elizabeth I arrives suggests we might see more adventurous staging as Orlando progresses, but it never really happens.  The Great Frost scene does have a magical quality to it, but where Orlando’s arrival in the 19th century should have been accompanied by a huge thunder storm and perpetual rain, it’s left to the cast to tell us things are a bit dull.

Minimal set design can often be a blank canvas for great performances, but that’s also sadly lacking.  The cast look bored, as if performing this play is some kind of penance to be paid. Every line delivered feels the same as the last, and in the absence of a convincing story arc, Orlando feels more like a ninety minute poetry recital than a stage adaptation of a literary classic.  There’s an exception in Deborah Findlay as Mrs Grimsditch who attacks the role with a bit more teeth, and Emma Corrin, in the title role, sustain an exuberant approach.

Orlando opens with the line “Who am I?”  It’s clear what the plays intentions are, but it never comes close to realising them.  Too much of Woolf’s clever and innovative style is missing from Bartlett’s script and the cast are unable hide that fact. What was a ground-breaking novel in the early 20th century, is today a stage play that can’t make the same impact.

Greg Stewart

Greg Stewart

Greg is an award-winning writer with a huge passion for theatre. He has appeared on stage, as well as having directed several plays in his native Scotland. Greg is the founder and editor of Theatre Weekly

Related Articles

The Crown Jewels at The Garrick Theatre
Featured

Al Murray, Mel Giedroyc, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Neil Morrissey and Joe Thomas to Star in The Crown Jewels at the Garrick Theatre

The Vortex credit Seamus Ryan
News

Further Casting Announced for Noël Coward’s The Vortex at Chichester Festival Theatre

Hamnet Garrick Theatre
News

RSC’s Hamnet to Transfer to the West End’s Garrick Theatre

Russell Tovey image by Jason Dimmock Travis Alabanza Jay Bernard and Joelle Taylor
News

Neil Bartlett To Direct A Live Version Of Derek Jarman’s Seminal Film BLUE

Debra Baker
Interviews

Interview: Debra Baker on Orlando at the Garrick Theatre

Sonia Friedman
News

Sonia Friedman Announced as new President of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Comments 4

  1. Pingback: Interview: Debra Baker on Orlando at the Garrick Theatre - Theatre Weekly
  2. Pingback: Behind The Scenes Images Released from First Day of Orlando Rehearsals - Theatre Weekly
  3. Pingback: Michael Grandage Company Confirms Orlando will Open at The Garrick Theatre - Theatre Weekly
  4. Pingback: Michael Grandage Directs Emma Corrin As Orlando In Neil Bartlett’s New Version Of Virginia Woolf’s Novel - Theatre Weekly
Twitter Facebook Youtube Instagram

At Theatre Weekly we give theatre a new audience. You'll find our theatre news, theatre reviews and theatre interviews are written from an audience point of view. Our great value London theatre tickets will get you the best deal for your theatre tickets.
Theatre Weekly, 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
  • Join Our Community
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising

Recent News

42nd Street Tour Cast

Casting Announced for 42nd Street UK Tour

The Unicorn credit Geraint Lewis

Nina Productions Presents Sam Potter’s The Unicorn At The Arcola in June

© 2022 Theatre Weekly

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tickets
  • Digital Theatre
  • News
    • West End
    • Off West End
    • Regional & Tours
    • Digital
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • VAULT Festival 2023
    • Vault Previews
    • VAULT Reviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer

© 2022 Theatre Weekly