Virginia Woolf’s short story “The Mark on the Wall,” published in 1917, was one of the first two stories printed and published by Virginia and her husband Leonard when they started the Hogarth Press. A new experimental short film, now available online, brings her first published story to life.
Anderson Wright’s evocative and experimental short film is described as capturing the essence of Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness narrative, in which a seemingly insignificant mark on the wall triggers the exploration of memory, identity, and the passage of time.
I watched it and found it hauntingly beautiful, with the final words of the film echoing Woolf’s own, minus her words about war.
If you have three minutes and forty-four seconds at your disposal, you can watch it, too.
It includes photographs of the Stephen family, Talland House, St. Ives and more. It also includes a brief interview with Leonard Woolf, along with interviews with others who knew Virginia.
The second, “The Mysterious Gift to Virginia Woolf,” takes a whimsical approach.
It introduces an imaginative new play by the same name that features a mysterious painting by Virginia’s sister, Vanessa Bell that is titled “Mrs. Dalloway’s Party.” Reserve more than an hour for this one.
More about the painting
Exhibited in 1922, the painting disappeared until British art dealer Anthony d’Offay offered it in 1983 from the estate of Virginia Woolf.
For more background on the painting, listen to a 2023 27-minute podcast “Mrs. Dalloway’s Party,” that features Dr. Karina Jakubowicz. In it, she speaks with the painting’s owner, Howard Ginsberg. She also interviews the bestselling author of Bloomsbury Pie: The Making of the Bloomsbury Room, Regina Marler, as they discuss paintings and parties in 1920s Bloomsbury.
Available on YouTube from now until July 10 is the Royal Ballet’s performance of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works, a triptych created in 2015.
Featuring music by Max Richter, the ballet received critical acclaim, winning McGregor the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Classical Choreography and the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.
Inspired by the writings of Virginia Woolf, Woolf Works is based on three of Woolf’s novels: Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves and weaves in elements from her letters, essays and diaries. The ballet looks at both her life and her work.
A new short video about Virginia Woolf was recently published on YouTube by TED-Ed. Titled “Why should you read Virginia Woolf?” it is narrated by Iseult Gillesipe from the University of Wisconson-Madison.
The video details Woolf’s early life and highlights several of her novels. Check it out on YouTube or view it below.
