OrlaNDO
Originally a novel written by Virginia Woolf for her romantic partner and lifelong friend, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is a coming of age story about a young man who lives for 300 years and at some point along their journey magically transforms into and embraces becoming a woman. For Cornish College of the Arts' Spring 2022 season, Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of this queer, fantastical story was chosen to be staged.
Ruhl indicates in her script that although Orlando's story is told linearly - the production elements do not necessarily have to adhere to this rule. Because of this, the overall direction and design of the show leaned towards a Brechtian feel. This allowed for the sound design to be formless and reflective of Orlando's journey with the gender spectrum. Throughout the play, the sound design primarily lived in whichever time period we were with Orlando in, but through transitions there were aural tidbits of Orlando's past and hints towards Orlando's future.
In addition to this, there was a recurring musical motif that was present from the beginning of Orlando's story to the end. In collaboration with the director, we settled on the 18th century French folk song, Au Clair de la Lune. Using GarageBand, I created several versions of the song, which grew more complicated as we moved forward in time - a reflection of not only music through history, but of Orlando's character as well.
Directed By: Rhonda J Soikowski
Set Design: Jessica Christensen
Costume Design: Keegan Peculiar DeKay
Lighting Design: Kenrick Fischer
Ruhl indicates in her script that although Orlando's story is told linearly - the production elements do not necessarily have to adhere to this rule. Because of this, the overall direction and design of the show leaned towards a Brechtian feel. This allowed for the sound design to be formless and reflective of Orlando's journey with the gender spectrum. Throughout the play, the sound design primarily lived in whichever time period we were with Orlando in, but through transitions there were aural tidbits of Orlando's past and hints towards Orlando's future.
In addition to this, there was a recurring musical motif that was present from the beginning of Orlando's story to the end. In collaboration with the director, we settled on the 18th century French folk song, Au Clair de la Lune. Using GarageBand, I created several versions of the song, which grew more complicated as we moved forward in time - a reflection of not only music through history, but of Orlando's character as well.
Directed By: Rhonda J Soikowski
Set Design: Jessica Christensen
Costume Design: Keegan Peculiar DeKay
Lighting Design: Kenrick Fischer
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