Make way for Alexandria's 'Revolutionists'

From left: Justine Summers is Olympe de Gouges; Sophie de Waal, Marie Antoinette; Melanie Kurstin, Charlotte Corday, and Dayalini Pocock, Marianne Angelle in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Revolutionists/Photo by Matt Liptak

It's back to the past. 

If it had not been 10 p.m., if it had not been another cold night, I was ready to join other audience members so moved as I to take to the streets and demand change and action, following the powerful message delivered from the stage of the Little Theatre of Alexandria.

The actors were The Revolutionists; the time was 1793 during the height of the French Revolution's  Reign of Terror, but it could have been today when a quartet of unlikely acquaintances gather to urge a playwright to compose a work of what she wants, not what she knows.

Yes, a play within a play with a timeless statement on issues which vex us more than two centuries later.  From left are Marie Antoinette (Sophie de Waaland) and Olympe de Gouge (Justine Summers) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's The Revolutionists/Photo by Matt Liptak

The women argue about the play's content while Olympe de Gouges (Justine Summers) tries haphazardly to write and seize the moment.

A  realistic guillotine is the centerpiece of the sophisticated set with a long red drape hanging nearby ("better to capture your head, my dear") and a floor increasingly littered by the playwright's tossed drafts.  Steps add dimension to the scenes, changed only by the actors who prance in and out, often mad at their world and screaming, just to be sure you get the message.

Director Jennifer Lyman writes in program notes that she chose Revolutionists because she's a fan of the playwright, Lauren Gunderson ("the most produced playwright in America two seasons" before Covid-19 shut theatre doors). But Ms. Lyman hesitated to recommend it to LTA because of its "kick-ass, girl-power, meta-theatrical, modern, irreverent, anachronistic, political feminist" mindset. (Weak men need not attend.)

Marianne Angelle (Dayalini Pocock) is a Haitian fictional rebel, the smoothest of the lot, who, much like a mother, tries to stabilize the group with reason v. emotion.  while screams and yells abound, and shouts for the need to kill fill the stage. (Charlotte Corday [Melanie Kurstin] succeeds.)

Jean-Joseph Weerts, The Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday on 13 July 1793, 1880/Public Domain, Wikimedia 

And just when you think serious might overtake the script, in waltzes the frilly, the silly Marie Antoinette (Sophie de Waal)  with a petit trianon voice to match her persona and gown, and hair (by Chanel Lancaster) as high as Marge Simpson's.  

Her boudoir with Versailles's elegant windows help embellish the queen's role and reputation. 

Costumers Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley dress the characters in fashionable floor-length gowns of the period in colors and styles to mirror their personalities (dull for the playwright, smart for the Haitian, white for the killer, lacy for the queen).

Sound designer David Correia, assisted by Will Gregg and Donna Hauprich, handle their multiple assignments exceptionally, busy they are all evening with chants,  sprinkles of Les Miserables music, crowd noise, and the ka-chunk, thunk of the guillotine as it falls upon the heads of the victims.  

Lighting changes are right on time, illuminating the stage with bright red every time a prisoner steps up to the chopping block, or for the few moments when a solo light is needed.

Today I can take pen or computer to compose my message to those around me, including legislators, and "march" on paper and keyboard to demand change and action to advance equality for women. As of this writing, the long-ago Equal Rights Amendment has risen from the dead to claim new status and perhaps an extended deadline which, if allowed, may ratify a new constitutional amendment.  Amen, sisters!

Have we come a long way?

Congratulations to LTA for stepping outside the box to present a kick-off to Women's History Month, continuing the women's revolution.

Creative team members also include Lynn O'Connell and Kevin O'Dowd, producers; Danielle Guy, assistant director; Nick Friedlander and Meggie Webster, stage managers; Matt Liptak, set designer; Jeff Auerbach, Kimberly Crago, lighting designers, assisted by Katie Clement, Pam Leonowich, and Marg Soronos;  Chanel Lancaster, makeup; and Margaret Chapman, properties

What: The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson

When: Now through March 20, 2021, Wednesday through Saturdays, 8 p.m. Sundays, 3 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Directions

Tickets:  Start at $24.

Adult language

Duration: About two hours with one five-minute pause.

Public transportation: Check the Metro and Dash bus websites.

Parking: On the streets and in many garages nearby with free parking at the Capital One Bank at Wilkes and Washington streets.

For more information: Box Office: 703-683-0496; Business: 703-683-5778. Asklta@thelittletheatre.com

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Olney's 'I and You' is unforgettable

Rachael Tice and Thaddeus Fitzpatrick in Lauren Gunderson's I and You now on stage at Olney Theatre/photo by Stan Barouh

It hums along at a great pace but the ending will leave you gasping.

While you predict the last scene, be ready to drop jaw.

I thought it was only for teens and college students. I was wrong.

The Olney Theatre Center has gloriously exploded in production:  The King and I, Chorus Line, and now, I and You. 

Jason Loewith, Olney's artistic director, beamed when he talked before and after the production about his focus on new plays and female playwrights, including Lauren Gunderson who wrote I and You and was on hand Saturday night to witness the glowing reception her play received by a stunned crowd.

Loewith proudly announced I and You is a finalist for the 2014 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.  After you see it, you'll know why and that it will win.

Loewith noted that theatres have to concentrate on sure-fire winners to produce income which enables theatres to survive, thrive, and experiment with new material like I and You.

Rachael Tice and Thaddeus Fitzpatrick in Lauren Gunderson's I and You now on stage at Olney Theatre/photo by Stan Barouh

And back to it: The plot captures an afternoon in the lives of two teenagers, the entire cast, who grapple with the issues of today and always:  self, others, purpose, life and death.  Starring in their conversation is a gift for English teachers everywhere:  Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.  (Were copies sold in the lobby?) The youngsters use the book to read sections to each other while working on a joint Whitman project for a class.

Social media is spot-on.  The girl, Caroline (Rachael Tice) is ill and confined to her home.  She texts her mother downstairs. Anthony (Thaddeus Fitzpatrick), a high school classmate, drops in, seeking help on their project, and his poster reveals he needs it, all right. Maybe a fourth-grader crafted it.

That Caroline likes Elvis movies (!), John Lennon and Jerry Lee Lewis (!), and Anthony favors Miles Davis and John Coltrane without any mention of current artists that I heard, is a reach to older audiences, I suppose.

The play of just 80 minutes takes place in three scenes in Caroline's jammed and "messy" (she says; she don't know what "messy" is) bedroom of books, pictures, posters, red bedding, and a "turtle," the significance of which I still ponder.

Their conversation is so today and so "teen talk." They say what adults wonder about, but don't state or ask.  For a while, Caroline is damaged goods and seeking help.  The roles reverse, and Anthony becomes the wounded.  They call each other "weird."  She calls him "Senator."  He calls her "Senator Shut-In."  They banter and knock each other. She talks exactly like every teenaged girl I've ever been around.

Some parts were just "weird," too, like Caroline showing no curiosity about the dead classmate's name or that her mother never showed up or communicated, wondering what was going on upstairs in her daughter's bedroom where a strange boy had parked himself for hours.

Towards the end the script began to drift a little, but then...

I and You is director Eleanor Holdridge's first play at the Olney where she skilfully managed the actors who obviously revel in their roles.

After the play, Ms. Tice and Mr. Fitzpatrick excitedly talked a little about their backgrounds and how jubilant they are to be at the Olney. For the role Ms. Tice auditioned in her hometown, New York, where Mr. Fitzpatrick is a transplant from the University of Alabama where he studied theatre. This spring Ms. Tice makes her film debut in Slider.

They are such a twosome and will travel next to Rochester to act in the play there, another stop in the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere.

For her terrific and special effects, lighting designer Nancy Schertler gets special kudos.  Those dark colored bulbs in the beginning didn't fool me. I was hoping they would light up sooner or later. 

Other important people in the production:  Dan Conway, scenic designer, Ivania Stack, costumes,  Matthew M. Nielson, sound, Becky Reed, stage manager, and Amy Marshall, managing director.  Bravo!

What: I and You

When:  Extended until March 30, 2014

Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832

How much: Tickets start at $48.50.

Parking:  Abundant, free, and on-site

For more information:301-924-3400

For more area productions and reviews, click DC Metro Theater Arts.


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