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When playwright Lauren Gunderson visited a Paris mausoleum, she did a double-take reading about a female playwright who was beheaded during the 1793 Reign of Terror — the period of the French Revolution when political paranoia over perceived threats to the new Republic led to thousands being executed by guillotine, sometimes for the flimsiest of reasons.
So Gunderson wrote a comedy about it.
“It was a gradual exploration of that time and the striking similarities to our time in America: ridiculous war, drowning national debt, vast divide between rich and poor, institutional racism and the quest for women’s equality,” she said.
But the play turned into a story about stories, she said — about why we need to make art, what art does in times of crisis and how stories connect eras and philosophies.
“This play is exactly what we need right now,” says caryn desai, International City Theatre’s artistic director. “It’s a bold, irreverent — and very funny — exploration of the power of women to shape history.”
Dynamically directed by Jamie Torcellini, four talented actresses bring to life four intrepid women of the French Revolution — a queen, an assassin, an anti-slavery activist and a playwright on whom so much depends.
Their modern dialogue is funny and fast-paced as the very different women learn about each other and consider their own legacies while awaiting a potential call for execution.
What will be their last words before losing their heads under “Madame Guillotine,” they ask the playwright. She struggles to write them, more concerned about writing a brilliant play about the women’s experience (much like Gunderson’s play).
Despite their dire situation, the women are droll, defiant and dedicated to their beliefs. Young Charlotte Corday (Sarah Pierce) carries through on her mission of stabbing revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat to death because of his extremism. Her single-minded fierceness is hysterical even as her commitment is palpable.
Marianne Angelle (Nondumiso Tembe) — the only character Gunderson invented to represent Black women who protested slavery in the Caribbean — is just as fierce in her abolitionist beliefs, but also tragically tied to her husband fighting back home in Haiti.
Playwright Olympe De Gouges (Amie Farrell) is more feisty than fierce but committed to documenting the lives of these women through her nascent play, while of course hoping to gain lasting fame.
Last, but definitely not least, a delightful Marie Antoinette (Lyndsi LaRose) steals the show in her fluffy dress and cotton-candy wig (thanks to Kimberly DeShazo’s creative costuming). Though comedically light and always twirling a ribbon, Marie is committed to her belief in herself and her children.
All the actresses excel in their passionate and physically demanding roles, and we come to know and appreciate these historically based women through them. It’s sad when more than one must climb the scaffold to be beheaded.
It also makes one wonder what one would be willing to sacrifice for freedom, justice and love when all are under threat and one’s very life may be at stake. As Marie Antoinette says in the play, “Sometimes revolution needs a woman’s touch.”
International City Theatre’s “The Revolutionists” continues through June 28 at the Beverly O’Neill Theater, 330 E. Seaside Way, with shows Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-436-4610 or visit ICTLongBeach.org. Run time is 2 hours, including intermission.