ORLANDO: A Rhapsody
April 17 and 18 at 9:30pm
April 19, 20, 23, and 24 at 7:00

Vinora Epp (director/author/performer), Steven Epp (author/performer)

"ORLANDO: A Rhapsody" started as an adaptation of a novel, conceived and performed by two actors, Vinora Epp and Steven Epp. They happen to be father and daughter. The daughter is at the helm of the project, and this is her directorial debut. They began a written adaptation in 2021, working long-distance: Vinora lives in Paris, and Steven in Minneapolis and Brooklyn. “Orlando: A Biography” by Virginia Woolf is a satirical, fantastical, political novel which follows the life of a hero/ine who lives 300 years and moves from one gender to another. In "ORLANDO: A Rhapsody," father and daughter play the same character at different ages of their life. But, "ORLANDO: A Rhapsody" soon takes on a life of its own, far beyond the original novel: weaving in material from Woolf’s body of work: “The Waves” and “A Room of One’s Own”; then Shakespeare; feminist philosophy; music; movement; autobiography. "ORLANDO: A Rhapsody" is a duet performance that layers questions of fiction, age, filiality, death, but most of all, gender. It places gender onstage as theatrical material to wrestle with, in all of its violence and all of its poetry. It is a highly intimate and political form whose strength and specificity is borne from two actors who are confronting all of these themes as father and daughter.

Content Warning: Talk of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and psychiatric hospitalization, suicide

*Please note that this performance will be presented at the Tank's in-person performance space at 312 W 36th St. All attendees and artists will be required to have a covid vaccination before being admitted to the space. Patrons will also be required to wear masks, when not eating or drinking.