UCLA Performing Arts
Ellen Lauren performs in “Room,” a
solo piece that journeys through the mind of writer
Virginia Wolf at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse.
By Siddarth Puri
Daily Bruin Contributor
Do you need some room? If so, the SITI Company’s
“Room” is being performed at UCLA’s Freud
Playhouse.
The play, an innovative solo performance that journeys through
the creative thoughts of British writer Virginia Woolf, stars Ellen
Lauren as a conduit to Woolf’s articulated thoughts.
Directed by Anne Bogart, “Room” is a modern
adaptation of Woolf’s early 20th century notions that are
still pertinent issues, such as those of acceptance and openness.
“Room” is the second chapter in a trilogy by the SITI
Company of seminal minds of the 20th century, the first on director
Robert Wilson and the third on composer Leonard Bernstein.
The title of the play, “Room,” describes the main
concept of the performance: the room to move, the room to breathe,
the room to imagine ““ a sort of creative and emotional room
that is so constricted by today’s society. These are the
qualities that Woolf believed in and articulated through her
writings.
“Virginia Woolf encouraged artists in a world that
denounces differences,” Lauren said. “She encouraged
them to be creative and believed in artists trying and attempting
new things ““ without boundaries.”
Throughout the play, Lauren takes the audience on a journey of
thought through the works of Woolf. While not attempting to embody
or play Woolf, Lauren acts as a guide into the mind and experiences
of the British writer. The voyage through Woolf’s intellect,
however, is not done in “conventional” manners by any
means. By replacing the usual biographical drama with an
unconventional solo performance that weaves together strands of
Woolf’s writings, the play offers a different
perspective.
“We tried to understand and project (Virginia
Woolf’s) way of thinking through looking at sampled pieces
such as her diaries, essays, letters and then her literary
works,” Lauren said. “There have been a lot of stigmas
associated with Virginia Woolf ““ everything from her feminist
position to her gay position. We tried to clear up some of these
stigmas and show her way of thinking.”
The play capitalizes on the thoughts and life of Virginia Woolf,
and Lauren clarifies the misunderstood aspects of Woolf’s
attitudes. The strict physical action of Lauren throughout the
performance combined with elliptical language dominates the
performance and aims to shed a new light on Woolf.
“Virginia Woolf was a literate, a humanitarian and a
pacifist,” Lauren said. “She is someone who is needed
in today’s world. Through her writings, she articulates the
importance of being in contact with another human being: we put
each other in boxes and surround ourselves with them, but being
able to open ourselves to people is an extraordinary wonder in
nature that needs to be attempted.”
The performance aims to brush the dust off Woolf and create a
new identity based on the writer’s internal plight and
strife. It is an evening that takes the audience through a
whirlwind of struggle and personal saga of one of the many
misunderstood writers of our time.
“It’s refreshing to see a piece done about a writer
that capitalizes on her personal life and struggles rather than
specifically on her fiction writing,” said Olivia McManus, a
first-year musical theater student. “I’ve read her
novels, but haven’t had the chance to learn more about her
from her personal writing.”
Virginia Woolf, looked upon as an influential writer and thinker
of her time, was unconventional in her writings and thinking. The
complexity of the performance will give college students the chance
to see the world from the perspective of an early 20th century
writer.
“The performance would probably send Virginia Woolf
running out of the theater because she was such a shy
person,” Lauren said. “But she would be proud of the
gift and beauty of the piece. It poses a different kind of
sensibility and message.”
THEATER: “Room” opens today and
runs through Saturday Feb. 2 at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse at 8
p.m. Tickets are $35 for general public and $14 for UCLA students.
Tickets can be purchased at the UCLA Central Ticket Office. For
more information call (310) 825-2101.