Roberta, a young English actress swept up into the French Revolution, is on trial for her life in 1793 Paris. Three different agencies want to execute her under three different identities. As the trial proceeds we flashback to learn how she blundered into this dangerous and sometimes hilarious predicament—and why she is pursued by the three strong women with different motives.
As a vagrant youth, Roberta is...
Roberta, a young English actress swept up into the French Revolution, is on trial for her life in 1793 Paris. Three different agencies want to execute her under three different identities. As the trial proceeds we flashback to learn how she blundered into this dangerous and sometimes hilarious predicament—and why she is pursued by the three strong women with different motives.
As a vagrant youth, Roberta is adopted by Manager Smith, who presents second rate theatricals in London. Smith reluctantly trains her as a classical actor and, as she reaches adulthood, Roberta seems on the verge of theatrical success.
Then Roberta is hired by willful country gentleman Elias Weldon to impersonate a French aristocrat, and her career implodes. Elias falls in love with Roberta, demanding that she marry him under her false identity. But after a violent altercation, Roberta takes the blame for the accidental death of Elias' previous fiancée. Wanted for murder, she flees to France moments before the outbreak of Revolution.
Penniless and desperate, Roberta adopts the false identity of Abigail Buckland, taking lodging in the home of Perrine the undertaker and her son Sebastien, who introduces her to the company of the famous Comédie-Française. Under a different identity as the provincial Vicomte de Lambrière, Roberta picks pockets at the Palais Royale, where she attracts the affection of Marie-Clarice, aging daughter of a bourgeois chamber-pot manufacturer.
The Revolution unfolds around Roberta, she witnesses the storming of the Bastille, and the play darkens. When Marie-Clarice is denounced, Roberta and Sebastien are unable to rescue her and Marie-Clarice dies on the guillotine.
As the play climaxes, Roberta is condemned to death by hanging (“To the lantern!”). Elias Weldon ruthlessly engineers her escape, then in a final bit of trickery Roberta escapes from Elias and flees to freedom in America.
Although the play takes place in many locations, it can be staged on a few basic platforms and, with doubling, performed by 5 women and 6 men.
