Orlando

By Virginia Woolf

Adapted by Sarah Ruhl

2023 Maine State Class A Runner-Up

All-Festival Cast

Rex DeMuro

Ly Dillon

Eva Crikelair

Alifair "Faye" Durand

Mia Eason

Special Commendations

Frame Design - Isa Raven

Outstanding Video Production in its Entirety - Ryder Haines

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2023 Downeast Regional Class A Champion

All-Festival Cast

Ly Dillon

Eva Crikelair

Alifair "Faye" Durand

Special Commendations

Acting Ensemble Award

Excellence in Lighting Design and Operation

Overall Technical Excellence

Selected Judges' Comments from State Finals

Liz Rollins (director/choreographer): "Beautiful choreo from all!" "The use of silhouette and shadows was clever and effective. Particularly the Sailors! Amazing." "Outstanding video projection work." "Fantastic costume changes. Very challenging and so beautiful." "Congratulations on the stunning performance of an exquisite script and a difficult production piece! I enjoyed the visual feast and the slippery ride through time and space. You should be proud of all of your hard work, diligent preparation, and exciting execution. I loved it!"

John Blanchette (Artistic Director, Auburn Little Theater): "Body and gesture very nicely done – a true understanding of period poise and posture." "Very solid individual performances. Everyone was on!" "Sasha and Orlando's skating was wonderfully effective." "Maybe the best makeup and hair I have ever seen at a festival." "The tech elements were truly outstanding! Some of the best I've ever seen. I was worried that it might overshadow [the acting], but it did not. Some truly outstanding individual performances – Orlando (Ly Dillon), Queen Elizabeth (Eva Crikelair), Marmaduke (Rex DeMuro), and the Chorus Leader (Mia Eason). No weak links at all."

David Greenham (Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission): "For me, the depth of this performance was a joy. Ly Dillon was excellent and held the piece together, earnestly with so much support from the rest of the cast. "[The adult tech staff] created a really lovely palette for the kids to play with. Thank you for your work."

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MDI Drama to Present Sarah Ruhl's Adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando

As its fifty-fifth entry in the Maine State Drama Festival, and first after the return to pre-Covid regulations, MDI Drama is proud to present Sarah Ruhl's theatrical adaptation of Virginia Woolf's classic novel Orlando. 

Although the show is a comedy based on a nearly 100-year-old novel, it addresses many topical issues of gender. The play, a full-length piece further adapted by MDI Drama director Casey Rush to fit the festival's 40-minute time limit, recounts the story of a young man who begins life attached to Queen Elizabeth I's court, wakes to find himself transformed into a woman some years later, and unfolds their many romantic relationships over a lifespan of more than 400 years. Orlando faces treacherous lovers, gender-based lawsuits, and a jealous monarch and ultimately learns salient lessons in a prolonged life that allow them to move forward with an understanding of what defines one's true identity.

MDI Drama director Casey Rush decided to pick a piece that has both a classic and modern feel. "Orlando feels at once old and modern, owing to its status as a novel from the early twentieth century and a modern theatrical adaptation. It's fascinating how Woolf had such a clear sense of the challenges that we would face in the twenty-first century when it comes to issues of gender and equity."

Rush is fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a veteran cast of senior actors and techs whose freshman experience began with the 2020 regional championship production A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes. Less than a week after winning the Downeast Regional and qualifying for States, Covid shut down the festival -- and pretty much everything else. This year's Festival marks the first with the opportunity to move on to state-level competition since before the shutdown. Says Rush, "I'm really hopeful that this group of seniors will have the opportunity to participate in a state festival. It was tough to qualify in 2020 and then to have to tell the kids that we wouldn't get to go." 

The cast of 'Orlando' features several seniors who are performing in their fourth one act, an unusual accomplishment: Eva Crikelair, Ly Dillon, Rex DeMuro and Alifair "Faye" Durand with Bryce MacGregor taking the reins as stage manager. Other seniors with multiple one act appearances, Hayden Braun, Mia Eason and CassieLyn Willis, anchor a strong cast rounded out by juniors Isabelle Peterson and Owen Moses, sophomores Cecelia Blackett, Adam Losquadro and Evangeline Meister and many newcomers, senior Florian Smith, sophomore Per Lisy, and freshmen Graham Carter, Ruby DeMuro, and Esperanza Evsikova.

Tech Directors Grey Burkart, in his eleventh year at the high school, and MDI Drama alumnus T.J. Willis, lead an experienced technical production team headed by fourth-year veteran tech Tessa Sanborn, along with seniors Avery Preston-Schreck, Ryder Haines, Cassie Carter and Meredith Cook, juniors Aidan Fisichella, Katie Horton, Brooke Stevens, Cayla Swanberg, Grace Weed, Griffin Dubé, sophomores Isa Raven, Richard Miller and freshmen Mabel Bureau, Esperanza Evsikova, Abigail Kimball, Bri Swanberg, Fred Sebelin, Ila Boatright, James Koopman, and Ashlin Hogdon Marsh.

MDI Drama veteran director Chris Dougherty is costume director for this production. "Trying to decide how to costume a show that spans such a vast sweep of time is no small task," says Rush. "Chris has had to be extra creative and has come up with some fascinating solutions to this challenge."

 The local premiere of Orlando scheduled for Saturday, March 4th at 7:00 PM at the Higgins-Demas Theater at MDI High School HAS BEEN CANCELED due to forecast inclement weather. 

Another opportunity to see the show is at the annual Black Rose performance on Wednesday, March 22nd at 7:00 PM. Admission is by donation. 

MDI Drama will perform the show in competition at the Downeast Regional of the Maine Drama Festival on Friday, March 10th at 9:00 PM at MDI High School. More information about that performance as well as the full regional schedule and ticket info is available here.

Orlando was commissioned by Joyce Piven and was first produced at the Piven Theater Workshop, directed by Joyce Piven. It was subsequently produced at the Actor’s Gang in Los Angeles, produced by Tim Robins, and directed by Joyce Piven. It was produced in New York at Classic Stage Company, produced by Brian Kulick, and directed by Rebecca Taichman.