O2v (Orlando, Orlando and Virginia)

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

When unexpected challenges interrupt a stage performance, and nothing phases the characters or cast, attention must be given.

Gwendolyn 'Edward' Smith and Eric Pung in Lida’s O2V Photo credit: Kryssi Martin

Friday night’s opening of O2V (Orlando, Orlando, Virginia) at the Lida Project Experimental Theatre sat in the middle of the tremendous thunderstorm sweeping through Denver. Heavy rain on the roof is one thing, but heavy rain on a tin roof is quite a different story.  As the rain increased in volume, the characters and actors instinctively matched demands to be heard, and they were. When the thunderous rain became overwhelming, Director kryssi wyckoff martin called a halt until the rain let up. No character ran away screaming leaving the actor to fend for him/herself. When the rain let up, the story continued as though nothing had happened. It was as though the moments had been rehearsed all along, as though it had been written into the script.

For the most part the cast is young, but what they give is a highly skilled professional bow to their craft. These are actors to keep an eye on.

However, the story, the characters, the artist caught my attention long before the thunderstorm marched in answering the play’s key question, “Who’s in charge? With a booming “I am,” (or at least, it thought it was.)

Who’s in charge is a great question for today’s society with so many people; parents, teachers, bosses, friends, acquaintances wanting to tell people what to think, what to do, and how to do it. Everyone, so it seems, wants to solve everyone else’s problems. On this level, everyone becomes a critic.

Based on, some say, Virginia Woolf’s greatest novel, Orlando, k w martin, Stephanie Ortiz, ad Diana M. Solis transformed Woolf’s biographical love story into stage friendly material. It’s in workshop, rough around the edges. From what I experienced Friday night will undoubtedly be quite different, perhaps by next weekend, but certainly by the end of the run, as so it should be.  That’s what workshops are all about.

Lida’s production of O2V Photo Credit: Kryssi Martin

Martin rattled an idea around for some time wanting to turn Woolf’s captive novel Orlando into stage material. Brian Freeland, Lida’s executive producer, offered her project time in July. Approaching actors with “a warehouse, no script, and a July deadline”, the right actors appeared at the right time in the right moment. It is worthy to make note of this, because one could never tell from the on-going production, as a workshop is ---ongoing, that’s how O2V started. The result: creative, intense, compelling.

Woolf vacillated between brilliant creativity and morose depression. Gifted in controlling the English language, she never found a way to control her own mind. The battle led to her suicide in 1941. Married to Leonard Woolf, Virginia nevertheless carried on a passionate love affair with Vita Sackville-West, for which there is strong reason to believe was the woman based on the title character Orlando.

Stephanie Ortiz takes on the role of Virginia Woolf with stunning interpretation: intense, reflective, worrisome, vacant at times, giddy at others, charming, lost in depression, volatile in head conversation with Orlando and her other characters. Ortiz’s change of “expressionful” mood creeps over her subtly one moment, explosively at others. From what we know of Virginia Woolf, Ortiz captures a glimpse.

At the very beginning with glint in her eye, she announces that what is about to be seen all takes place in her mind. There’s an entire warehouse for her mind to expand into, and it does.

The Male Orlando, deliciously played by Doron A. Burks, strongly shows belief he is Orlando. He’s not happy with what Woolf gives him. He wants ”love and life”. At first he finds it fun to argue with her. The fun wears off and he demands freedom to choose his own path.

At the age of 17, Orlando becomes a sex toy for Queen Elizabeth, hysterically and perfectly captured by Todd Anthony Black who also plays Nicholas Green, and the Archduchess with a strong sense of character range. Happy in “satirization”, Woolf loved to poke at society. O2V acknowledges that with a soft circus atmosphere that speaks for itself without becoming overbearing.

The central question begging attention within O2V is who has the power? The play explores along with Woolf, the politics of sex, and constraints of gender roles, side by side with clothing and social mores.

As the characters struggle for independence, as Virginia struggles to keep control, she writes feverishly, often changing her mind, much to her characters dissatisfaction.

Lida’s production of O2V Photo Credit: Kryssi Martin

Schuyler Burks designed the set with a chair stage left and a desk stage right for Virginia. The characters won’t let her stay in one place for very long. As she furiously writes and re-writes, she moves around the stage, and around the stage, and around the stage. Keeping with the circus atmosphere, Arial fabrics hang from the back for characters to use, mainly by Eric Pung gracefully making it difficult to keep the eyes off him. Burks also designed the shadow puppets feeding into Virginia’s intense creativity.

Oozing sexuality Gwendolyn Smith plays Sasha, Orlando’s love that he doesn’t quite know what to do with.  There’s Euphrosyne played by Kayleen Higgins, a major player in Orlando’s life. The jealousies, the pulling and tugging at Orlando, compound his growing frustration with Virginia. The chemistry between the actors works smoothly into the draw between the characters.

Orlando wants love, life, and freedom, and when he gets it, he demands help from Virginia, as do the other characters rattled by her constant change of direction. One way to take care of the bossy Orlando is to change his gender, so she does, turning him into a woman, played by Diana Solis. Waking from a long sleep, the transformation is made with intriguing choreography. In fact, most of the play is highly choreographed fitting mood, spirit, questions, demands, and challenges into a magical dance of fitful life. This is Solis’ stage debut, always willing to try something new. She’s beautiful as the Female Orlando. I just needed to believe her when she laments she is alone, so alone. I needed to see her beautiful face cloud with anguish and let her heart speak. Something tells me by next weekend, she’ll nail it.

Using a variety of different instruments, Melanie Owen Padilla wrote original music, fitting every segment, every mood, and every event perfectly. She captured O2V on the musical scale.

Lighting design by Dylan Luke and Patrick Severa becomes an intensified character all too itself. The striking red spotlight in the center of the warehouse stage becomes as much a part of the set as Virginia’s chair and desk.

Freeland’s sound design works hand in hand with the lighting allowing, everyone to forget they are in a warehouse, rather comfortably situated inside Virginia’s mind.

Karie Wyckoff’s costume design defies description, but speaks to the raw sexuality, humored poignancy, “circused” atmosphere, and political satire.

As does Orlando, O2V covers 1558-1928, Tamara Bradley plays Grimsditch from 1558-1770 and Jeff Garland takes over from 1770-1928. In her high-strung creativity, Virginia often confuses herself with her characters, and vice versa. Time means nothing flowing easily into a short time span.

A work in progress, O2V (Orlando, Orlando, and Virginia) contains its own bugs to entice into smoothness. The ending comes abrupt, or it did Friday night. Those characters are so demanding. For a while Virginia climbs into herself shutting them out. They don’t care for that at all. After screaming for freedom, now they want attention and direction. When they have direction, they want freedom. Sounds an awful lot like life doesn’t it?

The cast does a fabulous job with character consistency, graceful and designed awkward choreography. No one broke from their assigned pose, no one thought, “no one will notice me”. Each one gave tremendous concentration to what they were doing and when. It is a marvel to watch. Workshop of no, it speaks with clarity providing much opportunity to laugh. In some instances it would have been all too easy to capitalize on buffoonery, but they didn’t. Humor shines without being overdone.

O2V is a piece that should not be missed. One, it gives opportunity to be in on the ground floor of an intriguing valuable piece in progress, and to experience the ability of a young cast grabbing hold of a project, take it seriously, have fun watching their artistic wings grow. Their character consistency, down to the ensemble consisting of Amy Garland, Genoa Martin and Sam Scotti is a marvel to experience. Hopefully, this project will be tightened, completed, and published. O2V’s humored poignancy and poignant humor adds to the craving question: who’s in charge?

Call early for reservations. Space is limited. O2V could well be one of the most exciting productions at this time on a Denver stage simply because it is ground floor with a young but skillful cast.  Plus ground floor productions love feedback.

O2V (Orlando, Orlando, And Virginia)
By Diana Solis, Stephanie Ortiz and k.w. martin; Directed by Kryssi Martin