Rebecca Vaughan as Orlando (photo: Ben Guest).

All go at the Stables

It’s all go at the Stables Theatre, which this week sees two performances of Dyad Productions’ gender-bender Orlando. Meanwhile notice of auditions at the end of the month has gone out for John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation. Nick Terdre reports.

Orlando is written and directed by Elton Townend Jones and performed by Rebecca Vaughan, the twosome who constitute Dyad Productions. There will be performances on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 March at 7.30pm.

Who is she? Who is he? Who are we? Existential questions abound in this award-winning comedic tale of an immortal poet, whose gender cannot be pinned down, whose spirit cannot be caged, and whose irreverent, romantic adventures across British history, from the 1500s to 2019, provide a magic-realist exploration of human identity – personal, sexual and national.

“Drawing on a decade’s worth of successful theatre-making, this life-affirming, feminist voyage into the soul of what it means to find one’s place in the world whilst remaining true to oneself is the culmination of everything Dyad Productions has so far created, toured and presented since 2009,” says Mr Townend Jones.

This stage production, based on the eponymous novel by Virginia Woolf, premiered at Assembly Edinburgh in August 2018 when it received numerous five-star reviews and the Three Weeks Editors’ award. Costume is by Kate Flanaghan and Lucie Shilton, lighting design by Martin Tucker and and sound design by Danny Bright.

Actors wanted

Meanwhile actors are wanted for Six Degrees of Separation, an American comedy-drama by John Guare nominated for Pulitzer and Tony awards. The play is based on the true story of a con-man who convinced a number of people – including friends of the writer – that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier.

Six Degrees of Separation premiered off Broadway in 1990 and then played both Broadway and the West End and was made into a film. It is scheduled for presentation at the Stables in October.

Auditions for 14 roles will be held on Sunday 31 March. “It is critical to the play that we cast the right actor to play the character of a ‘brilliant, African-American twenty-something gay con-artist’ and are actively seeking actors who meet this description,” the theatre says.

See here for details of the auditions and all roles available.

Also in: Performance