The Revolutionists

by Lauren Gunderson

THE REVOLUTIONISTS is a brutal comedic quartet about four very real women who lived boldly in France during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793-1794). Playwright Olympe De Gouge, assassin Charlotte Corday, and former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, loose their heads, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in revolutionary...

THE REVOLUTIONISTS is a brutal comedic quartet about four very real women who lived boldly in France during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793-1794). Playwright Olympe De Gouge, assassin Charlotte Corday, and former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, loose their heads, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in revolutionary Paris.

This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, feminism and terrorism, art and how we actually go about changing the world.

It a true story.
Or total fiction.
Or a play about a play.
Or a raucous resurrection that ends in a song and a scaffold.

more research and info here: therevolutionists.tumblr.com

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The Revolutionists

Recommended by

  • Jackson K. Cook: The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson
    “

    This enthralling play is delightfully haunted by its historical quartet. And behind the gallows humor are urgent questions about the cost of change and the purpose of its own existence.

    This enthralling play is delightfully haunted by its historical quartet. And behind the gallows humor are urgent questions about the cost of change and the purpose of its own existence.

    ”
  • Michael Corrigan: The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson
    “

    A remarkable, imaginative and corrosively funny play.

    A remarkable, imaginative and corrosively funny play.

    ”
  • Ian Thal: The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson
    “

    A darkly sophisticated comedy that dances on the guillotine blade's edge between laughter and political violence. You may end up questioning what you think you know about historical figures like Marie Antoinette, the role caricatures serve in justifying tyrannical actions, and how the idea of revolution could bring reforms at the cost of compassion, forgiveness, and the conscience of a society undergoing upheaval.

    I reviewed the Boston area premiere in 2017: https://artsfuse.org/165280/theater-review-the-revolutionists-comedy-du…

    A darkly sophisticated comedy that dances on the guillotine blade's edge between laughter and political violence. You may end up questioning what you think you know about historical figures like Marie Antoinette, the role caricatures serve in justifying tyrannical actions, and how the idea of revolution could bring reforms at the cost of compassion, forgiveness, and the conscience of a society undergoing upheaval.

    I reviewed the Boston area premiere in 2017: https://artsfuse.org/165280/theater-review-the-revolutionists-comedy-du…

    ”
View all 9 recommendations

Development History

  • Workshop, Profile Theatre, 2015
  • Workshop, Playwrights Foundation, 2015
  • Reading, Theatre Emory, 2015
  • Workshop, Cor Theatre, 2014
  • Workshop, Theatre Du Reve, 2014

Production History

  • Professional, 7Stages, 2016
  • Professional, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 2016
  • University, Catholic University, 2015