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Adapted by
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Sarah Ruhl
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Virginia Woolf
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Orlando
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WORKING DRAFT / NOT A FINAL VERSION
SAMUELFRENCH.COM
SAMUELFRENCH-LONDON.CO.UK
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Orlando
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Adapted by
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WORKING DRAFT / NOT A FINAL VERSION
United States & Canada
[email protected]
1-866-598-8449
United Kingdom & Europe
[email protected]
020-7255-4302
Copyright © 2014 by Sarah Ruhl
All Rights Reserved
ORLANDO is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, the British
Commonwealth, including Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union. All rights,
including professional and amateur stage productions, recitation, lecturing, public reading,
motion picture, radio broadcasting, television and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved.
For Production Enquiries
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United States and Canada
[email protected]
1-866-598-8449
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United Kingdom and Europe
[email protected]
020-7255-4302
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Each title is subject to availability from Samuel French, depending upon country of
performance. Please be aware that ORLANDO may not be licensed by Samuel French in your
territory. Professional and amateur producers should contact the nearest Samuel French office
or licensing partner to verify availability.
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CAUTION: Professional and amateur producers are hereby warned that ORLANDO is subject
to a licensing fee. Publication of this play(s) does not imply availability for performance. Both
amateurs and professionals considering a production are strongly advised to apply to Samuel
French before starting rehearsals, advertising, or booking a theatre. A licensing fee must be paid
whether the title(s) is presented for charity or gain and whether or not admission is charged.
Professional/Stock licensing fees are quoted upon application to Samuel French.
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No one shall make any changes in this title(s) for the purpose of production. No part of this
book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
system, or transmitted in any form, by any means,
now known or yet to be invented, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording,
videotaping, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. No one shall
upload this title(s), or part of this title(s), to any social media websites.
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For all enquiries regarding motion picture, television, and other media rights, please contact
Samuel French.
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MUSIC USE NOTE: Licensees are solely responsible for obtaining formal written permission
from copyright owners to use copyrighted music in the performance of this play and are strongly
cautioned to do so. If no such permission is obtained by the licensee, then the licensee must
use only original music that the licensee owns and controls. Licensees are solely responsible and
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requirements.
CHARACTERS:
Orlando (played by a woman)
Sasha (played by a woman)
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THE CHORUS
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may be played by as few as three
ree actors and as many as eight
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Shakespeare
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Queen Elizabeth
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The Archduke/Archduchess
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Miss Penelope Hartopp
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A washerwoman
Favilla
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Clorinda
A Russian Sea-Man
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Desdemona
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Othello
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Euphrosyne
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A Sea Captain
A maid—Grimsditch
A maid—Dupper
Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, Esquire
A Salesperson
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the author suggests a chorus of three gifted men to play all the roles)
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may be double-cast
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(may be cast without regard to gender
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CHORUS:
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The age was Elizabethan.
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Everything was different.
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nor their vegetables even.
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Their morals were not ours.
Nor their poets, nor their climate
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The rain fell vehemently or not at all.
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The sun blazed or there was darkness.
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Violence was all.
And, standing next to a large oak tree,
was a boy, called
Orlando.
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SCENE 1: Orlando.
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ACT I: The Elizabethan Age.
Orlando jumps on a chair.
ORLANDO:
HE—
CHORUS:
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ORLANDO: (to the audience—a conspiracy)
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HE!
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CHORUS:
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He—for there could be no doubt of his sex...
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Though the fashion of the age did something to disguise it—
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CHORUS:
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Orlando raises his sword and swings it.
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Was in the act of slicing at the head of an infidel!
Orlando looks at the audience. “He” is surprised and a bit crestfallen.
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ORLANDO:
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Orlando is constantly surprising him/
him/herself
herself in the act of performance.
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I do so long to chop the head off an infidel,
but I am, as yet, only sixteen.
Orlando looks into a mirror.
CHORUS:
sights exulted him—
the birds and the trees—
ORLANDO:
and made him in love with death....
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Orlando looks at the chorus. They disperse.
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He sighed profoundly.
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Orlando sighs profoundly.
CHORUS:
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And flung himself
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on the earth
at the foot of
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A
the oak tree.
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Orlando flings himself down in front of an oak tree.
ORLANDO:
And in his mind, image followed image:
THE CHORUS:
The oak tree was
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CHORUS:
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I am alone.
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ORLANDO:
the back of a great horse
that he was riding
or
the deck of a tumbling ship
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it was anything indeed
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Orlando thought—
ORLANDO:
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I will write a great poem
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about the Oak Tree.
CHORUS:
And he tried to describe—
For all young poets are forever describing—
Nature.
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CHORUS:
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I will—
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his floating heart to.
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which he could attach
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for he felt the need of something
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ORLANDO:
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so long as it was hard
ORLANDO:
He wanted to match the shade of green
Precisely—
The green of the grass, the green of the grass…
The greeny greeny green of the grass—
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CHORUS:
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I will write a great poem
More trumpets.
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ORLANDO:
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Orlando leaps to his feet.
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About the oak tree tomorrow.
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Tomorrow.
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ORLANDO:
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A Trumpet Sounded!!!
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(A trumpet sound)
Orlando saw that his great house—
in the valley—
was pierced with lights.
CHORUS:
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When—
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Green in literature quite another.
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But green in nature is one thing
Coaches turned and wheeled.
Horses tossed their plumes.
And why did horses toss their plumes?
ORLANDO:
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Christ Jesus!
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The chorus dresses Orlando.
CHORUS:
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He reached his room.
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(He was a trifle clumsy.)
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He tripped.
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He let himself in at a wicket gate.
He tore up the winding staircase.
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He scoured his hands.
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He pared his finger nails.
With no more than six inches of
looking-glass and a pair of old candles
to help him, he had thrust on
crimson breeches
a lace collar
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Orlando dashed downhill.
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CHORUS:
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THE QUEEN HAD COME.
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ORLANDO AND THE CHORUS:
and shoes
with rosettes
as big as
double
dahlias.
He was ready.
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He was flushed.
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He reached the banqueting hall only just in time
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But he was terribly late.
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ORLANDO:
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to sink upon his knees and, hanging his head in confusion,
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to offer a bowl of rose water to the....
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ORLANDO AND CHORUS:
great
Queen
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herself.
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He was excited.
SCENE 2: The Queen
The Queen extends her hand.
Orlando kneels before her.
ORLANDO:
Such was Orlando's shyness that he saw no
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THE QUEEN:
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It was a memorable hand.
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CHORUS AND ORLANDO:
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it was enough.
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more of her than her ringed hand in water, but
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ORLANDO
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a thin hand with long fingers always curling as if round orb or sceptre;
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a nervous, crabbed, sickly hand;
QUEEN:
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a commanding hand, a hand that had only to raise itself for a head to fall; yes,
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ORLANDO:
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the Queen had a hand—
old body that smelt like a cupboard.
—Orlando guessed, attached to an ol
THE QUEEN:
Come.
Orlando approaches the Queen and kneels at her feet.
QUEEN:
The Queen studied Orlando.
She read him like a page—Eyes, mouth, nose, hips, hands...
By God! He has the shapeliest legs of any nobleman in England!
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ORLANDO:
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What is your name, dear boy?
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THE QUEEN:
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He had been kissed by a queen without knowing it.
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CHORUS:
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(The Queen kisses Orlando's hair)
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He only felt something press against his hair...
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ORLANDO:
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Orlando.
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THE QUEEN:
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Orlando! And what do you want to be when you grow up, Orlando?
ORLANDO:
I would very much like to be a poet, your Highness.
THE QUEEN:
Ah, romance, folly, poetry, youth! I think you would make a fine poet, Orlando.
And I have always wanted a gentleman just your age. How would you like to
come to Court, Orlando?
ORLANDO:
To court—that's a very great honor, your Highness.
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THE QUEEN:
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The joint was rather swollen—
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The Queen plucked a ring from her finger—
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QUEEN:
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Yes.
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ORLANDO:
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Steward.
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Orlando, I want to give you this ring
ring.. I hereby name you my Treasurer and
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Thank you, Mum.
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CHORUS:
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And the Queen took Orlando to Court.
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THE QUEEN:
For the old woman loved Orlando.
CHORUS:
Lands were given him
A great house assigned him.
QUEEN:
He was to be the son of her old age.
CHORUS:
And the flower bloomed and faded.
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And the sun rose and sank.
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CHORUS:
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And the flower bloomed and faded.
And the sun rose and sank.
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Yes, mum.
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ORLANDO:
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I hope that you will stay with me always.
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QUEEN:
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The Queen leads Orlando to her bedroom and pulls him down among the cushions.
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THE QUEEN:
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ORLANDO:
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Shall we play a game, Orlando?
Yes, mum. What is the game?
THE QUEEN:
First you recite a Petrarchen sonnet on my eyes, and then I challenge you to an
ode upon my feet.
ORLANDO:
Yes, mum.
THE QUEEN:
And if they are very good, you may kiss me.
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THE QUEEN:
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Thou art more lovely and more temperate...
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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
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Yes, mum.
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ORLANDO:
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That's enough, Orlando. I believe I've heard that one before. But it was very, very
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good, and you may kiss me.
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She kisses him, passionately.
THE QUEEN:
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CHORUS:
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This—
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The Queen breathed—
THE QUEEN:
Is my victory!
CHORUS:
And the flower bloomed and faded.
And the sun rose and sank.
Orlando sighs.
THE QUEEN:
ORLANDO:
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THE QUEEN:
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Mum?
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What is the matter, Orlando?
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Are you quite content? You don’t seem your usual self. Did you enjoy the
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ORLANDO:
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parakeets from the Azores?
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Very much, mum.
THE QUEEN:
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Perhaps you are bored. Perhaps you do not play with boys your own age quite
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ORLANDO:
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enough.
How could boys my own age compare with a Queen, Mum?
THE QUEEN:
That’s the spirit, Orlando.
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