Who wants to see Mason Gross' production of 'Orlando'? Us!

Mason Gross School of the Arts' latest stage production, "Orlando," reimagines the classic novel by English writer Virginia Woolf.

Written for the stage by playwright Sarah Ruhl, the Mason Gross production was directed by Chika Ike, a New York City-based theater director known for her work on the "Hamilton" national tour and choreographed by Katie Rose McLaughlin, a Drama League Award-winning director, also based in New York City. 

Told over the span of 300 years, "Orlando" depicts an aristocratic boy's romantic adventures in Victorian Europe and the consequences of his mystical transformation into a maiden. The play explores themes of societal conformation as both a man and woman and the maturation process by learning to resist conformity. 

Ruhl's adaptation is focused primarily on gender expectation and experience, as it's understood that the transforming sex of Orlando does very little to change them at their core. 

As for Mason Gross' iteration, Orlando was played by Amy Harris, a Mason Gross junior, who seamlessly delves into both man and woman. Harris plays both genders with charm and confidence, bringing vivacious, heartfelt energy to the character. 

The play begins in 16th-century England with a fresh-faced, 16-year-old Orlando. A hero and a poet, he has a thirst for adventure and is desired by all. 

In the first act, Orlando is courted by three women. The first is Queen Elizabeth herself, who's formidable and Baroque but has a soft side for Orlando's shapely legs and poetry, played by Ashavari Bhattacharya, a Mason Gross junior. 

The next is a cold, Russian ice skater named Sasha, with whom Orlando finds true love, but is later betrayed, played by Lilith Freund, a Mason Gross junior.

The final woman pining for Orlando is a squeaky and awkward Romanian archduchess, embodied through a comedic performance by Ellie DeMan, a Mason Gross junior. 

With a broken heart and looking to escape the archduchess, Orlando goes to Constantinople, where during a long period of sleep, he's inexplicably transformed. Fundamentally the exact same person, Orlando must now face the challenges of womanhood in the 18th and later 19th centuries. 

The second act is set in the increasingly industrializing England, where the country has accepted Orlando's new status as a woman and has legally stripped her of her land. Orlando, still young and seeking adventure, has a new set of challenges, most importantly, finding a husband who does not fill her life with dread. 

Harris transforms effortlessly, adding a bit of fluidity to movement and facial posturing, but taking nothing from the constitution and heart of Orlando. 

In a stand-out comedic scene, the archduchess returns, now parallelly transformed into the Archduke of Romania, clad in a military coat with transgender and gay pride flag medallions and black leather stiletto pant-shoes. Still, Orlando remains bored by his romantic gestures. 

Her anxieties are then displayed as the play begins to slow down in action and ramp up in frustrating questions of purpose, self and future.

Near the show's conclusion, Orlando finds another lover, an androgynous redhead sailor played by Meg Moynahan, a Mason Gross junior. Together, they share the same restless desire for adventure. 

The ending continues the thematic exploration of gender identity. Orlando's new lover, Marmaduke, calls gender norms into question just as Orlando does. 

Ike's artistic decisions were strong, and little was held back. Rather than a curtain opening to start the two acts, there's a gradual filling up of the stage, with characters casually chatting around goblets and golden candlesticks, stretching and waiting for the beginning of the story.

Before the play even begins, this introduction begs the audience to question what kind of world they are about to step into. With no prior knowledge of the play, one would never assume they are watching the court of Queen Elizabeth. With the ensemble dripped out in sparkling corsets, chokers, green ribbons and everything embellished with pearls, the direction promoted the idea of a maximalist, Victorian fever. 

Faces are adorned with bright red circles of blush, with Queen Elizabeth's design feeling reminiscent of the Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland." Once begun, the production's dancing, mixed with twerking, humping, suggestive silhouettes and ravishing kisses, were frequent. 

The set design gives traces of "Grimms' Fairy Tales" and Mardi Gras, with bare tree branches adorned with beady lights and decorations on the stage. While only one staircase set piece is used for the entirety of the runtime, the staging and blocking are easy to follow and work naturally, and characters seamlessly move prop pieces around the stage without breaking character or batting an eye. 

The lighting design is passive in some moments and extremely creative in others. The music cycles through anthems of gay icons like Kate Bush and David Bowie during the opening and intermission, and violin covers of Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan structured into the choreographed ensemble dances.  

Mason Gross' take on the prose of Virginia Woolf brings an abstract, dreamy quality to its production, making for a wholly unique theatergoing experience. The show's conceptual nature is amplified by the creative team's artistic direction, and the passion of its cast and crew undeniably shines throughout the production.