Noveltease Offers Up Their Literary Burlesque Take On Woolf’s “Orlando”

The classic queer novel by Virginia Woolf….not the sweaty city in Florida. Yes, Noveltease Theatre Company is tackling a very interesting and queer subject in their ongoing series of adapting great literature into burlesque theater. This time, it’s Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel ORLANDO, her adoring tribute to her lover, Vita Sackville-West but artfully disguised as a piece of fantastical fiction. The material might be best known for its film adaptation that stars Tilda Swinton.

Orlando centers on an Elizabethan nobleman of the same name who magically transforms into a woman and pursues love through 400 years of English literary history.

Adapted by Noveltease Company Member Jesse Belle-Jones, with direction and choreography by Alyza DelPan-Monley and Fosse Jack, the production will run May 1st through 9th at the Theatre Off Jackson in the International District. Tickets at https://novelteasetheatre.org/events/2026/5/1/orlando

Orlando will feature Noveltease Company Members Anya Knees, Ramona Rhapsody, Sailor St. Claire, and Verity Germaine and they’ll be joined by guest performers including Noveltease veterans Ash Midnight (The Count of Monte Cristo), Lavender Lacivious (The Raven and Other Stories), and Merlot Loren (The Great Gatsby), alongside Noveltease first-timers Alexa Perplexa, Moonflower, and Marnie Wingett. 

More on this fascinating project below:

Noveltease Theatre Blurs the Boundaries at Theatre Off Jackson this Spring with Virginia Woolf’s Orlando 

“[A] biography is considered complete if it merely accounts for six or seven selves, whereas a person may well have as many thousand.” 

Midway through his life, Orlando — an Elizabethan nobleman equally at home crafting poetry or hunting in the wilds — wakes one day to find herself transformed into a woman. 

Whether it be time, gender, love, nature (even the barrier between fiction and non-fiction itself!) Orlando will discover through her 400 year existence that the only thing truly constant is change. 

Change – and gay hijinks! 

Indeed, we’re inviting our audiences to share in all things camp and unadulterated queer joy all throughout this 2026 season, starting with Virginia Woolf’s hilarious romp of a biography. 

Adapted by Noveltease Company Member Jesse Belle-Jones, with direction and choreography by Alyza DelPan-Monley and Fosse Jack. 

Angelo Domitri and Robin Macartney return to work their magic on the lights and set, respectively, while Scarlett O’Hairdye steps up to the costuming bat for the first time with Noveltease! 

Noveltease Theatre creates fully-scripted literary burlesque adaptations. Infusing classic literature with contemporary striptease choreography, Noveltease reworks the literary canon for contemporary audiences through feminist, queer, sex-positive, and anti-racist standpoints. 

Noveltease Theatre productions are suitable for persons aged 18+. 

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS 

WHAT: Orlando 

WHEN: May 1-9, 2026 at Theatre Off Jackson 

TIMES: 7:30 PM Showtime. Doors 7:00 PM. 

TICKETS: General Admission is $30. For those who love us and want to give us more money, Patron Tickets are $60. For our fellow broke artists, we also have a $15 Industry Rate. And, because we believe in art for everyone, our Inclusion Rate is $5. Tickets available at noveltease.ticketleap.com. 

ACCESSIBILITY: TOJ can be accessed via wheelchair and other mobility devices through the alley entrance. Please email novelteasetheatre@gmail.com if you need wheelchair accessible seating. These performances are not ASL interpreted. 

The venue is not scent-free.