Cast And Creative Team Announced for Virginia Woolf's ORLANDO At The Lyric Stage

In this joyful romance of gender roles and expectations, Orlando the man wakes up, after a particularly wild night in 17th-century Constantinople, to find himself a woman! She abandons herself to three centuries of navigating love, desire, and the world from an entirely different perspective. Oft described as the most charming love letter in literature - written by Woolf to Vita Sackville-West - Sarah Ruhl brings the novel to life on stage in a grand, epic adventure that transcends time, place, and gender.

FEATURING: Caroline Lawton* as Orlando with Elise Arsenault*, Michael Hisamoto*, Rory Lambert-Wright, Jeff Marcus, Hayley Spivey. Scenic Design, Richard Chambers**, Costume Design, Jessica Pribble, Lighting Design, Steve McIntosh *Member of Actors' Equity Association (AEA) ** United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829

February 23 - March 25, Wednesdays, Thursdays - 7:30pm. Wednesday matinees - 2pm, February 28 and March 14, Fridays - 8pm, Saturdays - 3pm & 8pm, Sundays - 3pm. Post-show Q&A with the artists: February 25, March 11, after the 3pm performance

The Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116, TICKETS: Start at $25, Seniors - $10 off regular price, Student rush - $10, Student groups - $20, Group rates available. Box Office: 617-585-5678, website: lyricstage.com

Sarah Ruhl's (Playwright) plays include Stage Kiss, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award nominee for best new play), The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, 2005, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004), Passion Play, (Pen American Award, The Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from The Kennedy Center), Dead Man's Cell Phone (Helen Hayes Award), Melancholy Play (a musical with Todd Almond), Eurydice, Orlando, Demeter in the City (NAACP nomination), Late: a cowboy song, Three Sisters, Dear Elizabeth, and most recently, The Oldest Boy and For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at the Lyceum by Lincoln Center Theater, off-Broadway at Playwrights' Horizons, Second Stage, and at Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country, with premieres often at Yale Repertory Theater, the Goodman Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and the Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago. Her plays have also been produced internationally and have been translated into over twelve languages. Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. An alum of 13P and of New Dramatists, she won the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award in 2016, and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006. She was the recipient of the PEN Center Award for a mid-career playwright, the Whiting Writers award, the Feminist Press' Forty under Forty award, and a Lilly Award. She proudly served on the executive council of the Dramatist's Guild for three years, and she is currently on the faculty at Yale School of Drama. Her book of essays on the theater and motherhood, 100 Essays I don't have time to write, was a NY Times Notable Book of the Year. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

A. Nora Long (Director) is the associate artistic director at the Lyric Stage where she directed Murder for Two, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, Dear Elizabeth and assistant directed 33 Variations. In addition to work at the Lyric, Nora is one of the artistic directors for New Exhibition Room, a local fringe company that specializes in developing cheeky, ensemble-created new work. She has directed and led the creation of several projects with NXR including Shh!, an exploration on the role of censorship which attended the New York International Fringe Festival after a sold-out run in Boston; The Paper Bag Princess, an all-ages show, Midnight at the Last Night Cabaret and EEP! Show. Other recent directing credits include Cymbeline, Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Apprentice Program), Noises Off!, Ruthless: the Musical! (Hackmatack Playhouse), Three (Boston Public Works), The Real Thing, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Bad Habit Productions) and Candyland (New Exhibition Room). She received her MFA in Dramaturgy from The American Repertory Theatre/ Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College in theatre and Italian.

Caroline Lawton* (Orlando) returns to the Lyric Stage having previously appeared in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and The Underpants. Since returning from London, Caroline has been seen in Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan (Wheelock Family Theatre), Oceanside (Merrimack Rep), Women Who Mapped the Stars (Poets Theatre), and Reconsidering Hanna(h) (Boston Playwrights Theatre) as well as in numerous films and commercials. International credits include Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune (Chipping Norton Theatre), A Woman of No Importance (Clandon Park), Private Thoughts in Public Spaces (CASA Festival). Other theatre credits include Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare), Arcadia and Comedy of Errors (Publick Theatre), An American Daughter (SpeakEasy Stage), Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse), and Mr. Sensitivity (NY International Fringe Festival). Film and television credits include Confessions of a Shopaholic, One Night Only, Scotch Hill, Casting About, My Brother Jack, Guiding Light, and the upcoming Hulu series Castle Rock.

Elise Arsenault* (Chorus) returns to the Lyric Stage having previously appeared in Avenue Q (Elliott Norton Award, Best Ensemble) My Fair Lady, City of Angels, Into the Woods, and Company. She's made recent appearances at Merrimack Rep, Stoneham, Ocean State Theatre Co, Colonial Theater, HowlRound, and New Bedford Festival Theater. A graduate of George Mason University and the British American Drama Academy at Oxford, Elise serves as a career coach for actors and founded The Global Actor in 2017, a community for actors who live and work in multiple markets. She is a Backstage Expert (an ongoing contributor to Backstage.com) and co-owns The TreeCave, a full-service recording studio, with her husband, Justin Marra. As a director and teaching artist, Elise has facilitated workshops throughout the country with numerous organizations, including the Smithsonian Institute, The Lady Project and Washington National Opera. Her voice-over work can be heard in national commercials and narrations for over 60 audiobooks. More at elisearsenault.com

Michael Hisamoto* (Chorus) is a Boston-based actor, playwright, educator, and director. Recent acting credits include Hold These Truths, Stage Kiss, Fast Company (Lyric Stage), Charlotte's Web (Wheelock Family Theatre), Yellow Face (The Office of War Information), The Ordinary Epic (Crose to Home Productions), and The Important Thing about Earthquakes (Watertown Children's Theatre). Upcoming productions include Allegiance (SpeakEasy Stage). A strong proponent of new work, Michael has developed and workshopped new plays for companies like The Huntington Theatre Company, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, HowlRound, Fresh Ink Theatre Company, and more. In addition to his acting work, Michael was a Playwriting Resident at the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival, and has directed or assisted on numerous productions across Boston, and briefly led a children's theatre troupe in Southern California, where he was also recognized for his work as a youth in the theatre by the California State Assembly and Senate. Michael believes in educating the next generation of artists, teaching and having taught at multiple institutions, and happily offers career consultation free of charge to young artists of color. Michael is a graduate of The Orange County School of the Arts and Boston University. MichaelHisamoto.com

Rory Lambert-Wright (Chorus) is making his Lyric Stage debut, however, this is not his debut in Orlando - he appeared in Suffolk University's spring 2017 production of the show also directed by A. Nora Long. Rory studies acting and sound design at Suffolk. During his time there, he has designed four productions, and has performed in Rent and Margo Veil. He is also an avid singer, and performed with the Massachusetts Music Educator's Association's all-state choir multiple times while in school. He would like to thank his two mothers, Megan and Dana, for their unwavering support in his endeavors.

Jeff Marcus (Chorus) returns to the Lyric Stage after appearing in last season's Camelot. Other regional credits include Shakespeare in Love (SpeakEasy Stage), The Aliens (Theatre On Fire), Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (Company One), Noises Off (Hackmatack Theatre), A Beautiful Day In November On The Banks Of The Greatest Of The Great Lakes (Apollinaire Theater Company), Love Of The Nightingale (HUB Theatre Company), From The Deep (Boston Public Works, NYCFringe). He will next be seen in Stuart Little (Wheelock Family Theatre). Jeff has a B.A. in Theater Studies from Emerson College.

Hayley Spivey (Chorus) is a graduate of Boston University with a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts. Her studies focused in acting, playwriting, and dramaturgy. Her most recent credits include Don't Give Up the Ship (Fresh Ink), Men on Boats (SpeakEasy Stage), and Crossing Flight (TC Squared Theatre).

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