The Revolutionists a well-acted performance of activism
While its script is lacking in some places, the show at Persephone Theatre is bolstered by strong performances and excellent design work.
Persephone Theatre’s production of The Revolutionists sees four figures of the revolution try to wrest control back from a world that has stripped them of their equilibrium as it violently changes around them.
Charlotte Corday (Kathleen MacLean), Marie Antoinette and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle have come to playwright Olympe de Gouges’ (Elizabeth Nepjuk) flat, seeking to tap into her writing abilities to further their causes. Aside from Marianne’s, the inquiries are at first transactional, but the four women settle into a comfortable groove with each other and stay put.
In the middle of a discussion about what France has become, Marie (Anita Smith) likens the nation to an ingenue, tied to the train tracks and powerlessly facing down her demise.
