Two Coquitlam students at Douglas College are cast in a stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando.
Kiyomi Hoover and Marni Nitchie appear in the post–secondary play that runs March 17 to 24 at the New Westminster campus.
The show follows the poet Orlando as a 16-year-old nobleman in Queen Elizabeth I’s court in the 1500s to 1928, where he transforms into a 36-year-old woman.
“At the beginning of the play, the character of Orlando is on a never-ending journey to escape himself — ironically forcing him to face the complex experiences that make us who we are,” director Thrasso Petras said in a news release, noting the play touches on themes of gender, identity and sexuality.
"The notion of gender fluidity is not a recent one. It is centuries old,” he said. “If Virginia Woolf and her friends were alive today, they would revel in the current multi-faceted movement of gender."
Also appearing with Hoover and Nitchie are fellow theatre students Elijah Bamberry, Celine Nguyen Ho Favilla, Pay Kedar, Kalie Panzenboeck and Zach Stubley.
Adapted by Sarah Ruhl, the production starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Laura C. Muir Theatre for Performing Arts in the Royal City.
For tickets, you can visit the production's Eventbrite page.
