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.)
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
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
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
patricialesli@gmail.com
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