Theatre adaptation of Orlando brings Virginia Woolf’s trailblazing tale of gender and identity to life at USC’s Benson Theatre
February 10, 2026
The USC Department of Theatre and Dance will present Orlando, Sarah Ruhl’s theatrical adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking story of self-discovery, February 26 – March 1 at Benson Theatre.
Performance times are 7:30 p.m. February 26-28 and 3 p.m. March 1. Tickets are $10 and are available online at sc.universitytickets.com or at the door. The theatre is located on the 2nd floor of the Benson School building at 226 Bull St. (between Bull and Pickens Streets).
Ruhl’s take on the “longest and most charming love letter in literature” is an extraordinary trip through space, time and gender. Orlando begins his story as a young man serving as courtier to Queen Elizabeth I, but a yearning for more takes him on a centuries-long adventure that finds him, in the 18th century, unexpectedly transformed into a woman. Orlando’s adventures in life and love form the heart of a dazzling tale where gender and societal rules shift regularly with hilarious and heartfelt results. “Simplicity is magical in Orlando. That’s as true for Sarah Ruhl’s lovingly crafted adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s time-bending, gender-shifting novel as it is for Woolf’s mesmerizing prose.” – SF Gate
“It’s a fantastical, queer journey,” says director Patrick Michael Kelly, an adjunct instructor in the theatre program. “Orlando explores the clash between individuality and the pressures of society over 400 years of history.”
The play, Kelly says, is a faithful distillation of Woolf’s 1928 masterwork, with passages taken verbatim from the novel. A two-time nominee for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, playwright Sarah Ruhl first penned her adaptation in 1998; it has since had acclaimed productions Off-Broadway and in London’s West End.
“Like the book, the play is beautiful and profound and captivating,” Kelly says. “It’s a very focused version that allows the novel to breathe theatrically in the same way it does on the page.”
Ed Madden, a USC English professor who also leads courses in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, is serving as dramaturg and advisor on the production. The collaboration, Kelly says, has been key to finding the heart of Woolf’s story, which was originally written as a tribute to her deep love for writer Vita Sackville-West.
“Ed has helped us distill the play down to its core themes and first among them is the concept of queer joy,” Kelly says. “Joy is a major component of this adaptation and a big part of our focus on this production. It’s very much about that wonderful confusion we have in discovering our own identity.”
“Orlando is a sort of innocent character throughout the story,” Kelly adds. “They’re wandering through life, watching the road unfold before them and saying yes to it.”
The play’s cast is made up of one actor playing the title character and others working as a chorus (and assorted side characters) that drives the story forward. Performing in the production are undergraduate students Mel Driggers (Orlando), Connor Belin, Lucia Ramos Calleros, Zach Krebs, Marie Shenk, Miles Stice, and Mars Weaver. Designers for the production are undergraduates Sara Brown (scenic), Luke Chavis (sound), Kayla English (lighting), and Mark Garvin (costumes).
“Despite Orlando’s fantastical life, they go through all the same things we all go through – just exponentially so,” Kelly says.
“Every scene in this play is an opportunity to be surprised and delighted.”
For more information on Orlando or the theatre program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at [email protected].
