Part pornographic bildungsroman and part frosted fever dream, Orlando: A Pornobiography is a restless journey through time.
Three boys hunting on palace grounds spot a girl. Two strangers skate together on the frozen River Thames. A young man and a married crossdresser meet for a playdate. Centuries pass, and Orlando has just bought a plane ticket to Neukölln, Berlin.
Gliding between the surreal and the hyperreal, this unconventional epic features the 16th Century dialling a phone sex hotline, only to find the 21st Century on the other end, seeking a body capable of enduring its own desires.
SISSY: Advice to the young. It’s only dress-up. Don’t let it ruin your life.
In this bold world premiere commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, an ensemble of transfemme performers boldly reinterprets Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, exploring themes of erotic entanglements, historical ruptures, and queer intrusions in this daring anti-adaptation created by the award-winning duo pissCARNATION.
“pissCARNATION’s artistic vision is utterly contemporary, fiercely intelligent, and totally intoxicating — the production promises to be an unforgettable night at the theatre.”
Emma Clark, Head of Programme at New Diorama Theatre
Standard ticket price £19. Previews £13 & £5 (unemployed or striking worker). Also Pay What You Can Performances.
Orlando: A Pornobiography runs from 10 November – 12 December 2026 at New Diorama Theatre, 15–16 Triton Street, London NW1 3BF, United Kingdom.
More about pissCARNATION
pissCARNATION are Charli Cowgill and Laurie Ward. They make fervent and interdisciplinary theatre work about transfemininity. Their name comes from pissnelke, German for wild flowers that grow in urine-soaked areas. pissCARNATION combine brutality with tenderness, abjection with glamour and experimental forms with uncompromising honesty.
They’ve staged their distinctive, provocative works at the Edinburgh Fringe, Soho Theatre, New Diorama Theatre, and Camden People’s Theatre. They’ve also won awards including the Edinburgh Untapped Award (2024) for their production Ugly Sisters, and for the same run, the Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s Award in recognition of underrepresented voices at Edinburgh Fringe 2024.
The company are Pleasance Associate Artists (2025–2027), chosen for their boundary-pushing mix of performance art, new writing, and cabaret.
About New Diorama Theatre
New Diorama is home to theatre makers, a pioneering studio theatre in the heart of one of London’s most diverse wards. Since opening in 2010, we have built an award-winning record of commissioning the most exciting, innovative, company- and ensemble-driven new theatre, while also building a reputation as thought leaders in meaningful artist support and sector development.
The commissioned works have transferred to the West End, including Nouveau Riche’s Olivier-nominated For Black Boys…, and to Broadway, featuring SpitLip’s Olivier Award-winning Operation Mincemeat. These productions have also toured both nationally and internationally, performing at prestigious venues such as Germany’s Schaubühne with Kandinsky’s Trap Street. Additionally, they have been broadcast on the BBC, including Breach Theatre’s It’s True, It’s True, It’s True.
New Diorama Theatre’s pioneering artist support programmes reach hundreds of independent companies and freelance artists each year, providing resources and mentorship to progress their practice, company, and careers that are not available anywhere else.
newdiorama.com | @newdiorama
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