The Revolutionists - Main Street Theater

I saw The Revolutionists, by playwright Lauren Gunderson, last week at Main Street Theater. I've been thinking about it since.

I went in part because it's billed as a feminist play about women in the French Revolution. I consider myself a feminist and the premise intrigued me. Gunderson takes three historical women and one of her own invention to give us insight to the state of being a woman in the period---while drawing our attention to how too many things have not changed.

Indeed, one of the most interesting things Gunderson does is introduce us to period playwright Olympe De Gouges, a writer I'd not heard of before. Played by Shannon Emerick with a conflicted enthusiasm, Olympe works to make sure that "egalite" refers to women in the new France. It's a matter of historical record that she stood before the all-male national assembly and read her Declaration of the Rights of Women. A fascinating person to learn about.

Also in the quartet of women is Charlotte Corday (Molly Searcy), the woman who assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, and Marie Antoinette (Bree Welch), famously the last queen of France. The fictional woman is Marianne Angelle (Callina Situka), a composite of black women of the period that Gunderson created because of the scarcity of information for any women in the struggle to free the slaves of the Caribbean.

The conversations between these women are full of plans for revolution, arguments about best tactics, and accusations of weaknesses. There is sisterhood and there is division. Revolution isn't easy and even when the end goal is agreed upon, the road is full of peril and detours and arguments about routes.

Overall, the production is fine and everyone is more than capable in their roles. I was more than impressed with Welch who, as the alternately shallow and then surprisingly insightful queen, had quite a bit of heavy lifting in the show. Watching her work was amazing. It should also be said that the other women were never overpowered by Welch, but held their own admirably. It's seldom one sees such a strong ensemble working together.

There were things, however, that gave me mixed emotions about this production. For a play that is presented as a comedy, there were times when I felt the best comedic effect was not pulled out of the script. I found myself thinking, "that was funny, that should have elicited laughter." Whether downplaying some of the humor was a choice by director Andrew Ruthven or if the company just didn't find these moments as ripe for humor as I did, I couldn't say.

Another thing that sort of drew attention to itself to no real effect is that, while everyone spoke in modern English pronunciation, whenever a name was used, it was given the French pronunciation. It felt forced and didn't add anything. Had some hint of a French accent been used throughout, the names would have made sense, but as it was, it was as if we were hearing a translation of a play but some words didn't quite make it into English. I'm not sure what would have been lost if we'd heard Charlotte as we hear it in every other American context.

Other issues I have with the production fall under matters of taste and are really about the script itself. Lest you go in with the idea that this is an historical comedy, it really isn't. It's presented as a self-aware play (i.e., there are references when the characters let us know they're being watched by a 21st Century audience). It's a format that I generally don't care for. Along the same line, anachronistic expressions are thrown about. (For example, a quick Google tells me the word "feminist" wasn't in use until a few decades after the French Revolution.) Finally, a lot of the humor seems to go for the easy punch-line of things like Marie Antoinette saying the word "fuck" and "badass" and such. That can be funny and certainly the queen may have used whatever French equivalents she had at her disposal, but I feel like I've seen it before. I certainly have no issue with the word "fuck," employing it with some regularity myself.. As a comedic device, I find it wears thin quickly. It plays best in a skit but is hard to sustain in a full length play.

I fully own that most of these criticism are a matter of personal taste.

And so, I'm left to say that this is a production worthy of an evening of your time in a theater. The thought provoking themes within the comedic setting make for a fun evening in the theater that will give you something to chew on long after the final blackout.

At this writing, there are two more weekends of performances. Get your tickets here.