The ominous sound of a guillotine blade falling with a resounding slide and thunk kicks off the play The Revolutionists at Persephone Theatre.
The women at the heart of playwright Lauren Gunderson’s feminist metatheatrical script are revolutionary thinkers both real and fictional, coming together to fight for the values of sorority, women’s rights, and positive activism.
Except the production the night of Sunday, April 10 was not nearly so clear-cut, and the humorous elements written into this comedy often failed to find their mark. Superb acting from each of the four women playing the feature roles saved this production of The Revolutionists from its own grisly fate on the proverbial guillotine.
The Revolutionists centers around four women in the height of the French Revolution — three of them real, one fictional — as they try to carve out a legacy for themselves in a rapidly-changing word. The characters of playwright and activist Olympe de Gouges (Elizabeth Nepjuk), noblewoman-turned-assassin Charlotte Corday (Kathleen MacLean) and the infamous queen Marie Antoinette herself (Anita Smith) are all interpretations of real historical figures. The fourth character, rebel spy Marianne Angelle (Chiamaka Glory), is “a composite of a few historical sources and a lot of imagination, as there are not many records of Black women in the San Domingue rebellion,” per the show’s program.
The actors in The Revolutionists should all take an additional bow for the work they did elevating the show. Anita Smith as Marie Antoinette stole every scene she was in — and while part of that can be credited to the writing of Antoinette as particularly flamboyant, Smith deserves praise for bringing out the surprisingly poignant depth of the character. Thanks to a more reserved but no less passionate performance by Chiamaka Glory as Marianne Angelle, Antoinette and Angelle became the emotional heart of the show.
Elizabeth Nepjuk and Kathleen MacLean are no less deserving of accolades. With one of the more defined character arcs in the show, Nepjuk’s borderline-neurotic playwright became the eventual centerpiece of an uncertain revolution afraid of its own power — and afraid of the consequences of taking a stand. And MacLean’s turn as the stab-happy Charlotte Corday gave the audience some of the best comedy in the first act, and showed MacLean’s depth as Corday did what no one else in the show was able to do — carry out her will and her mission for the betterment of all, no matter the repercussions.
But not even the best acting performances could conceal all of this show’s blemishes. Quips flew fast in the first act but failed to find any sort of rhythm in Sunday night’s performance, and more than once it felt like the cast was straining to pull laughter from a rather unenthusiastic audience.
Gunderson’s script delves into the metatheatre references too often to maintain a clear vision for the themes of the show. Self-awareness is not, on its own, a substitute for funny writing, and all the meta self-referential one-liners did more to muddle the otherwise well-presented perspectives on feminism and activism.
The second act pulls the show in a more dramatic direction, and the fact it was superior to the first on almost every level meant the best parts of this erstwhile comedy came when nobody was trying to be comedic. When the actors were given space to revel in their characters and engage with each other one-on-one, the dialogue crystallized in a very satisfying way.
There’s plenty to like from The Revolutionists beyond great acting: the sound and lighting was used to clever effect throughout, especially during the criminal trials in the second act. The costumes and set — floor-length ruffled dresses and elegant tall white walls — placed the audience firmly in the era of the French Revolution with stylish aplomb. The design work is a credit to the local theatre artists who realized that part of the performance.
Nepjuk’s de Gouges, when the guillotine blade falls at the start of the show, says that a comedy shouldn’t “start with a beheading.” It might be the truest quip of the night. The Revolutionists definitely isn’t the funniest show to ever grace Persephone Theatre’s stage – but a combination of great acting, slick design, and an inspiring (if occasionally obscured) message of feminist activism helps elevate the final show of Persephone’s season. The season doesn’t end with a bang — but the slide-thunk of the guillotine will have to do.
