Culture Club Talk - Understanding Orlando and Virginia Woolf

UNDERSTANDING ORLANDO AND VIRGINIA WOOLF

SARAH GOODES IN CONVERSATION WITH ANNAMARIE JAGOSE

THE UTZON ROOM SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE 23 NOVEMBER 2015

“As long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking.”
― Virginia Woolf, Orlando

The first of a new series of inspirational and informative talks entitled the Culture Club, this was set against a glorious backdrop of the Harbour with ships sailing by and a jeweled, gently billowing and pulsating sea.

With an enthralled ,packed audience listening intently this talk was all about Virginia Woolf and Orlando , the current magnificent Sydney Theatre Company production on at the moment in the Drama Theatre starring the brilliant Jacqueline McKenzie.

First ,we were welcomed by Louise Herron, CEO of the House , and Ann Mossop , head of Talks and Ideas .

When she published A Room of One’s Own in 1929, Virginia Woolf became a major symbol of artistic independence to generations of women writers and artists. But her ideas about gender and the relationships between men and women were also an important part of her fiction, as Orlando (published the year before) and To the Lighthouse demonstrate.

Annamarie Jagose is a professor at the University of Sydney and a scholar in feminist studies and queer studies. She is the author of four academic books, most recently Orgasmology. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer. Jagose talked first about Woolf’s being ‘born Victorian’ ( ie of that era) and her ‘scandalous’ life living in the Bloomsbury group. Woolf had a heightened sense of living through historical change and throwing off Victorian values and attitudes. Woolf actively distanced herself from Victorian values. She wanted to ‘repossess the lives of women” and fight for their freedom and equality. By the time Woolf had published Orlando in 1928 she was already the author of five other major books including The Voyage Out. Mention was also made of Woolf’s relationship with Vita Sackville West. Jagose described Woolf’s writing of Orlando as smart ,funny and sarcastic and full of in-jokes. When published in 1928 sales of Orlando took off like a rocket .

Sarah Goodes is a Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company graduating with a Postgraduate Diploma in Theatre Directing from the Victorian College of the Arts. For STC, she has directed Battle of Waterloo by Kylie Coolwell, Switzerland by Joanna Murray-Smith, The Effect by Lucy Prebble, Vere (Faith) by John Doyle, The Splinter by Hilary Bell and Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness by Anthony Neilson. This year, Sarah was Associate Director on STC’s The Present by Andrew Upton, directed by John Crowley and she has been a recipiant of The Glorias Payten Fellowship.Other directing credits include productions at Belvoir St , the Old Fitzroy Theatre , Darlinghurst Theatre and The Studio at the Sydney Opera House . Starting off with the question from Jagose ‘’What do directors actually do ? “ Goodes then talked about the casting and rehearsal process , adapting a novel to the stage and so on. This version was first performed by an American company in 2010 . She described Orlando as ‘ very tongue in cheek” , warm and funny. They sought to translate images and metaphors into a play .Much use is made of the Drama Theatre double revolve and Renée Mulder‘s design of a split staircase with concealed doors , drawers and hidey –holes.  There isn’t really much dialogue in Woolf’s book and in the stage adaptation various cast members act as narrator .Interesting use is made of the male chorus and there is much cross-dressing ..

Goodes stressed that they were trying to capture the spirit of the play .She mentioned how long it takes to get a show on stage  - this production of Orlando has taken about 18  months , with design and tech meetings, casting , rehearsals etc – and problems with getting the rights to some of the music that were sorted at the last minute. The difficulties of adapting a novel for the stage were discussed , as well as  the creative rehearsal process involving the cast , the use of different theatrical ‘styles’ at various points in the play.The issue of contemporary ideas of gender – both in Woolf’s time and now – was also raised . 

There was a short time allocated for q & a from the audience .

The main overarching theme though throughout was the celebration of the spirit of Virginia Woolf and her novel Orlando .

 STC’s Orlando is playing 9 November - 19 December at Sydney Opera House.

Understanding Orlando and Virginia Woolf was in the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House 23 Nov 2015

Running time an hour 15 no interval