"Orlando" by Virginia Woolf and adapted by Sarah Ruhl.

West Bridgford Dramatic Society.

The Studio Theatre, West Bridgford.

Growing up as an Elizabethan pageboy and skating on the frozen Thames, Orlando never imagines he’ll travel to Turkey. Or get married in the reign of Queen Victoria. Or live long enough to answer the telephone. He definitely isn’t expecting to wake up as a woman one day. But if you stick around for five centuries, life is bound to get interesting… 

Orlando is a noble 16th century boy of sixteen, longing and failing to pay homage to nature and life through the writing of a profound poem. His longing and failed attempts to write and find meaning to his life continue through to the 20th century by which time she has changed sex, been a lover of Queen Elizabeth I, travelled to Constantinople, driven a car and perhaps gathered enough experience to finally write her masterpiece.

This is another play that I'd neither seen previously, read the book or seen the film, so this production was completely new to me. I was expecting quite a serious play with flashes of humour, but this was not the case.

"Orlando", in the hands of this cast and Director, is a comic romp through the ages. Much of the comedy is childlike, some may say immature, but it's that simplicity of the comedy, in what is a complicated story that really comes across and makes this play real fun to watch. For example, there's a section where a play, quite Shakespearian - well it reminded me of "Romeo and Juliet", but without the Shakespearian script - where "Juliet" is smothered to death by "Romeo" and then he stabs himself with a sword. It could have been a simple dagger that I may have imagined before me, but the stabbing was exaggerated and his other hand signalled large spurts of blood emanating from the wound. Really funny and over the top, and that signifies the comedy in this production, almost Monty Python-esque.

The actors mime a lot of the props, including something as simple as a motor car also became a comedic scene, especially with the driver and three passengers all travelling as one. Another great example of simple but exaggerated comedy was the scene in the lift in the department store with the lift attendant and customers. I'm not going to try and explain why these, and many more scenes are so comical as they need to be witnessed to get the full impact of the comedy.

The timing of the cast, and again I mention the lift attendant for excellent timing with the sound effects, has been really well observed and timed. 

Emily Martin (Orlando), Sav Dixon (Sasha), Lynn Burgess (Queen Elizabeth I), Calum Sharp (Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, Esquire) and Kristina Russell (Duke/Duchess) are the cast, but all bar Emily play every other role in the play, and act as narrators.

Directed by Barbara Seymour, this must have been a labour of love for Barbara because the cast are excellent and work so hard. Barbara has made my first encounter with this piece of theatre a thoroughly enjoyable one. I did think at the start of the play that it was just a little odd, but it didn't take me long to actually understand that the story is just a little odd, and that the acting was supposed to be slightly hammy, because that is where the comedy lies, and then I sat back to enjoy the play for the style it was in.

The music used in the play itself was chosen specially by Barbara.

Something else that brought me great joy were all the accents used in the play, and you all know how much I love a good accent. From Russian all the way to Scottish, I was in accent heaven.

The characters number round about fifteen or so, I lost count, or maybe just didn't bother to count as I was enjoying the rapid flow of the various characters entrances and exits. that flow itself was well managed by Rob Dixon, the Stage Manager, assisted by Jo Sharpe.

Set Designer is Ali Bakewell. The set is a wrap around set, and what a beautiful piece of art the three sided set made. Vibrant in colour and would look great as a mural. The central stage set doubled up as several other settings, i.e. a bed, the deck of a ship, a hill, the Queen's royal chamber. It also led to several "Carry On" style fumblings. The oak tree, stage right, where Orlando started the long ode, and stage left, a seating area for the narrators. But Orlando was not restricted to the stage area as he/she used other parts of the auditorium.

Lighting was operated by Alex Wardle and Sound Operator is Ritchie Sharpe. 

The soundscape and music, by Arran Mackay was wonderful, a blend of classical and early baroque. I mentioned the timing earlier and that there was a lot of observation and practice had gone into making sure that the timing for the effects matched the actions of the actors, and that takes the watchful eye and ear of the Sound Operator.

The choreography was by Jenny Matthews, something else that I had not expected for this play.

Costumes and props are thanks to Jo Sharpe, Carol O'Connor and Charlie Wilcox. I loved the costume for The Queen, and the change in costume from male Orlando to female Orlando really softened the character, leaving no doubt as to which Orlando we were watching.

This is a play that everyone can enjoy, due to the wonderful comedy elements infused, and the subject matter is as relevant in today's society as it was when first written, and I was pleased to see a few younger audience members in on opening night, and by the looks of their reactions at the end, enjoyed the play as much as everyone else. So something for everyone in this production.

"Orlando" is being performed at The Studio Theatre in West Bridgford until Saturday 16 November.