By Joe GfallerContributing WriterWho lives, who dies, who tells your story. It’s the refrain that ends Hamilton. Even though the revolution is different, the sentiment carries beautifully into Paris in 1793 in Lauren Gunderson’s sparkling tragi-comedy The Revolutionists.

The play, presented by Insight Theatre Company, is at the Marcelle Theater through July 14.

Four bold, gutsy women of the French revolution meet in an imagined sequence of events in The Revolutionists. Three are real figures: Charlotte Corday (the assassin of Jean-Paul Marat), Olympe de Gouges (a feminist playwright), and Marie Antoinette (the deposed queen of France). One, Marianne Anglle, is a constructed amalgam of several free women of color who fought to end slavery in the French Caribbean.

That all four could ever have met – let alone built the relationships of trust, sympathy, and friendship constructed in the play – is impossible. The play acknowledges this directly before it ends. However, once you willingly suspend that disbelief and accept you are watching “a revolutionary dream fugue, as the play calls itself, you are quickly in for a treat.

Lauren Gunderson’s play is filled with a modern wit that captures the spirit of these women without ever trying to recreate the language of the period. “Chutzpah,” “high five,” and “work life balance” were probably never spoken in 18th century France – let alone some of the saltier 21st century language that these characters invoke. However, by pulling these women out of stilted period turns of phrase, the play makes them feel as vital and contemporary to audiences today as they would have felt to the people of France in their own day.

Where the play is at its best, The Revolutionists threads the playful and the profound. That is no better personified than in Laurie McConnell’s portrayal of Marie Antionette, who becomes at turns endearing and loveable, batty and self-absorbed. She can bring the house down by announcing “Gasp!” and then commenting “Sometimes I say it instead of doing it.” But, despite all the caricature, in the end, she finds her nobility in her humanity – knowing that, like most of our heroines, she is to face the guillotine and her own death. Her promise to deliver a message to the husband of another woman in the afterlife becomes one of the play’s most touching moments.

As Charlotte Corday, Samantha Auch gives the most
emotionally compelling performance in the production. She first bursts into de
Gouges’ parlor in search of a writer who can help her write her inevitable last
words at the guillotine. Full of self-righteous conviction, she can both
channel the innocence to believably call her plan to murder Marat “stabby stab
stab” and the icy certainty to comment on the sexual assault she eventually
receives in prison to confirm if she “is a virgin.” The beautiful clarion voice
with which she delivers the first of a few unexpected lines of music upon her
death filled the theater with hope in the play’s first great moment of despair.

Kimmie Kidd gives a solid portrayal of Marianne Angelle as a
dignified voice of reason, attempting to motivate her friend de Gouges to
harness her talents for the cause of abolition and women’s equality. In the one
scene of substantial dramatic stakes for these two, she and de Gouges abandon
their early witty banter and intellectual arguments for a fight that is grounded
in what feels to be true betrayal. As one who has lived the fight, Angelle’s
wounds are deep. “You can’t write it if you’re not in it,” Angelle bristles at
de Gouges, ultimately leaving the playwright on the floor, clutching the very
pages she was prepared to burn in order to save her own skin.

It is Olympe de Gouges’ journey that theoretically serves as
the arc of the play. Sadly, there are times in which the construct – of her as
writer that the other three women come to – feels like the engine of a plot
that is less about her and more about the others. In the spirit of Caryl
Churchill’s Top Girls, it’s as if we find ourselves at a prolonged
dinner party full of entertaining incident and careful, thoughtful character
studies. But the host herself feels hollow. We never learn how she and Angelle
have come to be as close as we’re told they are, so when their relationship
frays, it’s not one that we have found a way to invest in deeply. Their
struggle matters to them more than it matters to us.

In Jenni Ryan’s portrayal of de Gouges, some of the character’s artifice – constantly hiding behind arguments about the aesthetic value of theater and art – seem to bury the heart of this woman, who often can come across as a less-than-capable dilletante. (The real de Gouges seems to have been anything but.) Her struggle seems to be an intellectual one for three-quarters of the play – and when it finally becomes a real one, it seems to surprise the character as much as it does the audience.

Ultimately, in de Gouges’ final moments, Ryan transforms her into someone who is deeply sympathetic. One only wishes that transformation could have happened earlier in the evening.

Staging The Revolutionists in the round, Trish Brown does an elegant job of consistently using the space well and maintaining a level of energy and momentum that can make a somewhat heady play that relies more on great dialogue than plot continue to feel fresh, fun, and visceral. The simple impact of red flower petals as blood in the moment when Corday kills Marat was one of many beautiful grace notes she successfully incorporated into the staging.

The limited set design — a few pieces of furniture — by Leah McFall was complemented quite effectively by the periodic soundscapes of sound designers Trish Brown and Bob Schmit, and the strong lighting from designer Morgan Brennan. Julian King’s costume design also gave each of the four women signature looks for the entire evening. With a larger budget, one imagines that an occasional costume change would have given us a chance to see more of variety.

I could have lived without the periodic meta-theatrical comparisons to Les Miserables that peppered the script — particularly since the student revolution in that musical was an entirely different revolution than the one playing out in Paris in the 1790s.

But, that aside, the wit and humor of the piece was frequently deeply satisfying and consistently surprising. Bringing back to life these four women in such a novel and engaging setting makes the production well worth a visit.

It’s no wonder that playwright Lauren Gunderson was recently among the most-produced playwrights in America and that her plays have so frequently graced St. Louis stages. She is a rare talent that, in this play, marries heart, humor, and history in a way that will make any audience member clamor to cry “Vive la revolution!”

Insight Theatre Company presents “The Revolutionists’ June 27 – July 14 at the Marcelle Theatre in the Grand Arts District, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.insighttheatrecompany.com or call 314-556-1293.

By Lynn Venhaus
Managing Editor
Jennifer Theby-Quinn, one of the most radiant life forces in local theater, joyfully
slips into a vivacious literary heroine with energy, enthusiasm and ease in
“Daddy Long Legs.”

The charming musical romance opened Insight Theatre
Company’s 12th season, whose theme is “A Riot of the Heart!”

Based on Jean Webster’s 1912 novel, which is a written as a
series of letters between pen pals, “Daddy Long Legs” enthralled me as a youth.
I naturally identified with orphan Jerusha Abbott, a very smart young woman who
longs for adventure.

Because she is a bookworm who shows much promise as a
writer, Jerusha is given an opportunity to attend college by an anonymous
benefactor, whom she nicknames “Daddy Long Legs” after she spies this
tall trustee leaving the John Grier Home one day, from a distance. The sole
request is that she correspond once a month.

In a plot twist, he befriends her using his real identity,
as the bachelor uncle of one of her affluent roommates. The family is of
considerable social status, and Jerusha is enamored of their wealth and advantages.

Internationally renowned countertenor Terry Barber plays the
mysterious Jervis Pendleton whose zest for life grows as his affection for the
wide-eyed innocent coed does. Her lively observations, spoken as her written
prose, have enchanted him.

Barber’s vocals are exquisite, and with music direction by
Scott Schoonover, the lush score soars. Leading a three-person combo on
keyboard, Schoonover benefits from Tracy Andreotti on cello and Vincent Varvel
on guitar, guiding each number with expert skill. 

While Barber’s acting is less effective here, the show is
really is Jennifer’s to own, for it is truly a remarkable role for a leading
lady. In Jerusha’s journey of self-discovery, Theby-Quinn shines brightly,
lighting up every corner of The Marcelle.

The story takes place in turn-of-the-century New England,
and through Theby-Quinn’s animated performance, Jerusha reveals herself as a
woman of substance, an outspoken suffragette who champions social justice. As
she blossoms, her joie de vivre is palpable and infectious.

Julian King’s vintage costume design is quite fetching,
except the wig choice for Jervis.

Jennifer Theby-Quinn as Jerusha Abbott

Director Maggie Ryan keeps the characters moving, and with
Quinn’s ebullience, there is no static at all. Rob Lippert’s ingenious set
design, rich in detail and smart function, serves the action well.

Nevertheless, the second act seems much longer than
necessary, and tests the goodwill of the first one as the two-person show seems
in no rush to arrive at the inevitable.

The book is by John Caird, Tony nominee for directing “Les
Miserables,” and the music and lyrics are by Paul Gordon, the Tony
Award-nominated composer of “Jane Eyre.” The production debuted off-Broadway in
2015, but before that, received an engaging tryout at The Repertory Theatre of
St. Louis in 2012.

For any girl who know what it’s like to dream, this musical
marvelously captures the yearning to see the world and the excitement to be
introduced to new things in life.

It’s also a quaint portrait of the social mores in the
early 20th century, and the evolution of contemporary women.

“Daddy
Long Legs” is presented by Insight Theatre Company March 29-April 14 at The
Marcelle Theatre. For more information, visit www.insighttheatrecompany.com