Photo Credit: Clémence Llorda
“Orlando: A Rhapsody,” is currently running at the off-off-Broadway stage, The Tank, performed by its very own co-writers, Vinora Epp, and her father, Steven Epp. The play is a sort of meta retelling of Virginia Woolf’s satirical novel, “Orlando: a Biography,” which follows a man who mysteriously wakes up as a biological female at the age of 30, and then lives on for over 300 years without aging. This narrative becomes the perfect canvas for Vinora Epp to explore the themes of gender, performance, and aging, which inspired her to begin writing back in 2021. However, the play reaches past Woolf’s novel and dives into vulnerable moments between the daughter and father’s dynamic, blurring the lines of what the audience understands of the “characters” versus the “actors.”
Vinora began writing “Orlando: A Rhapsody” as she was finding her place in the world of professional acting, realizing the best way to showcase her talents was to create her own piece. Part of the play involves the duo trying to determine Steven’s role within the story, stemming from Vinora’s initial intention for the play to be a one-woman show. Steven adds an affecting perspective throughout the play, as the pair differs in their experience of gender, theater, and aging. Where Vinora struggles to come to terms with being looked at in a male character’s body versus her own female body on stage, Steven discusses feeling restrained by his age on stage, no longer being free to play his dream roles of the past. Throughout the play, their dialogue relates back to Woolf’s writing, Shakespeare, and stories from their own lives, displaying a common ground in their respective character’s journeys.
The Tank provides a perfectly intimate space for the story to unfold. The set acts not only as the setting for the retelling of “Orlando: a Biography,” but also as a backstage area or dressing room. At the start of the play, Vinora comes on and announces the top of the show to the audience, speaking conversationally about her relationship with theater, and her father. Once the plot of the play begins, a dining table is set in the center, and Vinora gets in costume. Throughout the performance, both the table and costume are altered; Steven knocks silverware off the table, Vinora pours a bowl of water and roses over her head, and she smears her shirt with a handful of spaghetti sauce. The table is pulled apart, and the stage is left a mess, visually transitioning elements of the novel retelling, to the more conversational scenes between the two, providing a vignette of their familial relationship.
Photo Credit: Clémence Llorda
The play serves as a fascinating dialogue on the ever-growing and changing understanding of gender and aging, through the lens of a paternal relationship. Audiences have the chance to see this whirlwind of a play, “Orlando: A Rhapsody,” at The Tank through April 24th.
