Réjane, a groundbreaking woman, actress, and mother ahead of her time, is blazing into the 20th Century. Réjane constantly pushes herself as an artist, and ultimately helps to usher in naturalistic theater. She has two children with her sometime Director and Theatre Manager, Porel, who she eventually marries. Réjane choice to continue performing while pregnant helps to change Parisian fashion, as women copy her flowing (bump hiding) gowns. Her most trail-blazing feat is also her most painful, when, as part of her divorce proceedings, she wins the legal right to sign her own contracts in a time married women are not permitted to do so. Above all things Réjane is committed to progress. Actress, who should be cast late 30s - early 40s, plays a woman from her late teens to her 40s.

Porel is the Director of the Odéon Théâtre, the Second National Theatre of France. He is instrumental in furthering Réjane’s career, commissioning new plays for her and sometimes directing her. Réjane and Porel become lovers, have two children, marry, then divorce. As their relationship disintegrates, he goes to court to stop her from performing a play with another director — and ultimately loses. Actor plays 30s - 50s.

The Lover is Réjane and Blanche’s lover on and off the stage. The Lover meets Réjane and Blanche at the Conservatoire, where they establish a love triangle which continues into adulthood. The Lover plays multiple roles both on and off stage, changing costumes often, as he morphs into the kind of lover Réjane needs next. The actor also plays Réjane’s dear friend and couturier, Jacques Doucet. Actor plays late teens to early 40s.

Mother is Réjane’s mother. After her husband, a failed actor, died when Réjane was four, Mother raises Réjane on her own in near poverty. When Réjane is young, Mother sells concessions at a theatre where Réjane falls in love with acting. Even so, Mother hates that Réjane becomes an actress, and wishes she had a more stable career. Actress plays 40s - 60s.

The Sage of Paris is a Parisian street performer who MCs the show. Her songs paint the world of the play with sound. She is a one-woman Greek chorus. The Sage plays multiple roles, including the famed Grille d’Egout, the Stage Manager, Postman, and Réjane’s Dresser, Marguerite, who spouts epithets of wisdom. The Sage is whatever the show needs her to be, moving seamlessly between scenes and weaving the scenes together in her wake. Female. Extremely physical role.

Blanche is Réjane’s best friend and Godmother to her daughter Germaine. Also an actress, Blanche becomes a lifetime member of the Comédie Française. She resists change, even as Réjane embraces it. Plays late teens to early 40s.