The Revolutionists

Reviewed by Julyza Commodore
Theatre Forty
Through June 18

RECOMMENDED

Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists focuses on four women during the French Revolution: playwright Olympe De Gouges (Kat Kemmet), most famously known for being an assassin; Charlotte Corday (Sami Stumman), the last Queen of France before the Revolution; Marie Antoinette (Meghan Lloyd); and a passionate Haitian rebel, Marianne Angelle (Alana J. Webster). These women are badass in a comedy with very serious undertones — which include women being sentenced to execution if they dare to go against the laws of the state.

This production executes many things well. The actors flesh out the female characters, lending them multiple dimensions in an admittedly fictional play that nonetheless contains burning truths. It is also cohesive, as nothing seems out of place. Melanie Macqueen’s staging sets the tempo for this quasi-historical pageant with smooth pacing that never jars. Macqueen ensures that both the actors and words on the page get equal time, and equally shine.

Set designer Jeff G. Rack has designed a set that truly looks as though it is a home in Paris in the late 1700s. The stage is used to its fullest extent, with the residence of De Gouges being the central point, while there’s also a guillotine center stage — a vexing and powerful symbol that’s crucial to the characters and to the overall development of Gunderson’s story.

A certain candidate for president in 2024 might have called these characters “nasty women,” which is partly what makes them so inspiring, and touching. The Revolutionists is a must see for its amalgam of ideas and emotions, and for this theater’s display of creative expertise.

Theatre Forty, 241. S Moreno Drive, in the Mary Levin Theatre (on the Beverly Hills High campus), Beverly Hills; Thurs.- Sat., 7:30 pm; Sun., 2 pm; thru June 18; https://theatre40.org