Lauren Gunderson Imagines a Play for Rich and Poor

by Lynne Stevens

The French Revolution is raging. We hear sounds of crowds, shots, and the woosh of Madame Guillotine outside a French woman’s room. Four women await their date with death on La Val’s miniscule underground stage. Playwright Olympe de Gouges struggles to write a play about a deposed Queen, a Haitian spy, and a revolutionary murderess.

This comedic quartet jests about making a musical— like Les Miz! Lauren Gunderson’s Fab Four—all true-life historical women—revise the French revolutionary slogan to: Liberté, egalité, sororité. Sisterhood now replaces brotherhood.

When Haitian spy Marianne Angelle (determined Jennifer Greene) bursts in, Olympe (delicate Rachel Brown) exclaims, “Hello and surprise! Oh my god, for a second I thought you were the National Guard.”

Marianne wonders, “Are they coming for the writers already?” Olympe mumbles, “Only the important ones. . .” In few words, we get an alarming sense of the constant threat to anyone who dares speak truth to power. Then and now.

Pointing at playwright Olympe de Gouges, Marianne Angelle accuses her: “I’m rebelling against slavery, and you’re battling writer’s block.” Gunderson’s fast-paced modern dialogue leaves no doubts about who is making revolution here. Angelle stands with the enslaved people of Haiti. Marianne forcefully points out how colonization in the Caribbean has led to generations of inhumane treatment for Black people.

Almost every line brings laughter from the audience. We are still recovering from the last riposte, when the next one arrives. These four bold women nail the truth—making them funny, dangerous, and history changing. The four actors do a terrific job of defining their characters.

Angry Charlotte Corday (forceful Devon DeGroot) murdered revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat—“Because he’s awful!” Her partners in crime joke that Charlotte has “the short temper of the unrequited.” DeGroot plays the jealousy well, giving truth to their accusation. She doth protest too much.

Playwright Olympe declares the vital contribution of drama toward revolution. But Charlotte exclaims that art is fakery—useless for real human beings trying to change the world. Olympe comes downstage and looks straight at the audience, telling us: “My play might be fiction, but it’s not fake. The beating hearts in front of you are real. The gathering of people, the time spent is real.” A strikingly truthful announcement.

Shawn Oda’s Marie Antoinette drifts into the scene dripping ribbons and sighing how the people who once loved her are mistreating her. She tries to persuade Olympe to rewrite history, so that Marie will be remembered as generous. No luck.

Olympe, the playwright’s stand-in, resolves to write a play to explain why the world is crumbling around them. She wants to write for poor people, too—who are usually ignored by artists.

Gunderson’s witty dialogue charms and convinces. Definitely go see “The Revolutionists.” The best things come in small packages.

“The Revolutionists” by Lauren Gunderson, directed by Lauri Smith, set design by Umut Yalcinkaya, costumes by Franny Beck, lighting by Joe Krenn, sound by Michael Barr & Steve Egelman.

–at Theatre Lunatico, La Val’s Subterranean Theater, Berkeley. Info: theatrelunatico – to June 9, 2024.

Cast: Rachel Brown, Jennifer Greene, Devon DeGroot, and Shawn Oda.

Banner photo: Shawn Oda (Marie Antoinette) & Jennifer Greene (Marianne Angelle). Photos: Robin Jackson.