Considered by her contemporaries a playwright “second only to Shakespeare,” Joanna Baillie was one of the most critically acclaimed writers of the Romantic Era. The Plays on the Passions, first published in 1798, stands as her undeniable magnum opus: a multivolume series of tragedies and comedies exploring the overruling passions of the mind.
Orra: A Tragedy in Five Acts, which comes from that series' third volume, is Joanna Baillie’s haunting meditation on fear and madness. It is gothic melodrama par excellence. Set in fourteenth century Switzerland, Baillie's play skillfully intertwines psychological horror with early feminist thought. Orra, in love with Theobald, is exiled to a haunted castle in the Black Forest after rejecting a marriage proposal from her ward's son. She is further threatened by the nefarious machinations of Rudigere, a pathologically jealous knight whose desire for Orra verges on obsession. Then there’s the castle itself, a dark and gothic abode that soon brings Orra to the brink of abject terror.
Will Orra survive her expulsion into the Black Forest—or will she descend further and further into madness? ( ChuckW)
Cast list:
Orra: Availle
Theobald: ToddHW
Rudigere: Tomas Peter
Glottenbal: Craig Franklin
Hughobert: Roger Melin
Hartman: DrPGould
Maurice: Larry Wilson
Eleonora: Eva Davis
Cathrina: Sonia
Franko: Nemo
Urston: RecordingPerson
Alice: Leanne Yau
1st Servant: Sandra Schmit
2nd Servant: TJ Burns
1st Outlaw: Owen Cook
2nd Outlaw / Soldier: David Olson
Vassal: Joseph Tabler
Attendant: Victor Villarraza
Stage Directions: Chuck Williamson
Editor: Chuck Williamson
Chapters
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org), the text (opens archive.org), all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org).