Finalist for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play
Orchidelirium is a hothouse hybrid of fact and fiction, research and hypothesis, scent and sex. The name of the flower itself is derived from the Greek word ‘orchis,’ meaning testis. Through their resemblance to human and animal sexual organs, orchids were thought to stimulate lust. In fact, it was long believed that the flowers sprang from the spilled semen of mating animals. For the Victorian Alice O’Keefe, who established one of America’s great collections of orchids (before venturing into flora introduction), the delirium leads to environmental disaster. For Frances O’Keefe, the hothouse her ancestry built and which she fiercely protects will once again fill with the flower of legend–and orchidelirium.
News & Reviews
“Dave Carley has never been one to shy away from unusual subject matter. His new play Orchidelirium plunges us into the hothouse world of the orchid-obsessed … It is a rich and satisfying evening of whimsy.” —Toronto Star
About the Author
Dave Carley is a Toronto-based playwright whose plays have had close to 500 productions across Canada, the United States and in many countries around the world. They include Midnight Madness, Writing with our Feet (nominated for the Governor General’s Award), After You, an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Edible Woman, Taking Liberties, and Orchidelirium. Dave is the former editor at the Playwrights Union of Canada (now Playwrights Guild) and, for many years, was both script editor at CBC Radio Drama and play editor for Scirocco Drama. Dave’s most recent full-length works have been Twelve Hours; an adaptation of Al Purdy’s novel A Splinter in the Heart, and Canadian Rajah. He is currently completing two new full-length works for stage: The Shakespeare Club and Extinction. For more on Dave, go to www.davecarley.com
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