By Marilyn Jozwik
It takes a master playwright like Lauren Gunderson to make a play about The French Revolution seem fresh and relevant.
Lake Country Playhouse has taken on Gunderson’s play, which contains her thoughts on theater, politics, feminism, revolution and more against the intriguing background of the terror and uncertainty of the French Revolution. Gunderson demonstrates a keen ear for sarcasm and wit through four real historical characters.
You won’t find more interesting women anywhere in theater than the quartet represented in this show. And director Andrea Ewald has put their portrayals in most capable hands.
Madison Nowak is Olympe de Gouges, a playwright suffering from writer’s block in 1793 Paris. “There’s drama everywhere.” she says. “Why can’t I write any of it?”
She is visited by Marianne Angelle (Jaleesa Joy), a Haitian rebel who wants to free her French-ruled nation from slavery and is hoping Olympe will write a declaration for her.
Barging in on the duo is Charlotte Corday (Abigail Stein), who describes her plans to murder journalist Jean-Paul Marat, a radical responsible for numerous deaths during the revolution. Corday is convinced of the righteousness of her mission and wants Olympe to write her final words as she knows what her fate will be.
Rounding out the foursome is Marie Antoinette (Mary Grace Seigel), whose husband Louis XVI was one of many to suffer the guillotine during the Revolution. Marie strolls in like a movie star onto a set.
Gunderson’s play is smart, fast-paced and thick with ideas, commentary and humor. She gives us the courage and compassion of “Steel Magnolia” ladies, only these ladies have life- and history-changing missions and mountains of obstacles during the male-dominated revolt.
The four performers are pitch-perfect in their roles, growing with their contrasting characters, engaging in swift exchanges of verbal conflict with ease as they explain their complex roles in obtaining the liberty, equality and fraternity promised by the revolution.
Nowak transforms Olympe de Gouges from calm and rational in her writer’s cocoon, shielded from the realities of the unrest and the parade of guillotine victims by her fiction, to a raving maniac when she learns she is no longer safe from the madness around her. Nowak gains lots of empathy from her audience with her engaging and often charming character.
Joy portrays the Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle as the voice of reason, a steady force amidst the turbulence of the times. As a wife and mother, she shows empathy, yet her passion for her cause is palpable.
Stein’s Charlotte Corday is riveting. She presents the would-be assassin as wide-eyed and manic as she describes how she is going to kill Marat. She faces the audience, and peers to some place beyond, consumed by her scheme to destroy one man to save many.
But it is Seigel’s portrayal of Marie Antoinette that provides the light side to the dark comedy. Her ditzy mannerisms, one-liners and general cluelessness belie the seriousness of the situation. Yet, Seigel’s portrayal lets the audience see the queen through fresh eyes and gain an understanding of her role in the revolt.
The play was wonderfully staged with effective lighting and well-designed costuming.
Once again, the intimate setting of Lake Country Playhouse brings this show right to the audience. At one point, as Olympe earnestly greeted the crowd, an audience member in the front row waved back. The theater allows the audience that kind of engagement with the performers.
If You Go
Who: Lake Country Playhouse
What: “The Revolutionists”
When: Through Aug. 15
Where: 221 E. Capitol Drive, Hartland
Tickets: LakeCountryPlayhouseWi.org