THE REVOLUTIONISTS DRAMATURGY & STUDY GUIDE

“A Study Guide? I thought I was just going to see a play?”

Yes. And a good play should teach. Ultimately, if you just saw the play, you’d be more educated than you were yesterday.

But a great play does more than teach. It provokes curiosity.

When you scanned that QR to access this study guide, you acted out of curiosity. When you continue reading, you are acting out of curiosity. When you search “how did (fill in an event in history) happen,” you are acting out of curiosity.

Curiosity is the engine of education. And education is the catalyst of revolution.

We are living in revolutionary times. Whether you choose to engage or not is up to you. Regardless, history is happening all around you.

The best way to combat oppression, fight for freedom, and preserve human rights is to continuously educate yourself. And, if you came to see The Revolutionists, congratulations! You’re already doing it.

We at Gamut Theatre invite you to think critically about the subject matter you see in The Revolutionists and apply it to YOUR city, YOUR people, and YOUR history.

Keep reading to find out more about the time period, characters, and political climate of The Revolutionists.

And keep searching, digging, and asking all of the questions. Because you, yes all of you, are the historians of our day.

Olympe De Gouges was a real life 18th Century French playwright and political activist. Born to a wealthy family in Southwestern France, her name given at birth was Marie Gouze.

Olympe received no formal education, which makes her writings all the more astonishing. Married at 17 and widowed a year later, she became actively against the institution of marriage being forced upon women. In 1768, Olympe moved to Paris with her son and sister. She remained a widow the rest of her life and focused her attention on her career and her country.

Though she is not frequently discussed in mainstream World History, Olympe did pen many famous writings during the French Revolution. The playwright was a well-known supporter of the Revolution, greeting change with open arms. The most notable of her works is her 1791 pamphlet featured in The Revolutionists.

In 1789, “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” was published as a social justice manifesto in defense of the Revolution.

Notice anything off about the title? That’s right, it was a manifesto for the rights of man. Women were not to be included in all the Revolution’s promised freedoms.

Our fiery playwright was not going to let this slide. In 1791, De Gouges decided to publish “The Declaration of the Rights of Women and of the Female Citizen.”

As time went on, Olympe’s passion grew. Thus, her writings became more and more aggressive. A proud Girondist, she was seen as an enemy to the prominent Jacobins.

We won’t spoil how her story ends. You’ll just have to watch The Revolutionists.

Click below to read "The Declaration of the Rights of Women and of the Female Citizen.”

OLYMPE'S DECLARATION

Marianne Angelle is unique in that she is the only fictional character in this production. However, one could argue that Marianne is the most real of the four women in The Revolutionists. She is the character of the future— the heart of the audience. She tells us that revolution isn’t just for those traditionally included in history.

Marianne Angelle represents not just one individual, but a whole group of people.

During the time of the French Revolution, there was also a Revolution happening in Haiti. During the Haitian Revolution, the enslaved French colony of Saint-Domingue fought back against their colonizers.

Women played a valuable role during this time. In the Haitian Revolution, women served as spies and messengers. They took advantage of their lower status to move through plantations and camps, passing along intel, supplies, and news between rebel groups.

The women also served as healers, midwives, and spiritual leaders. They played a key role in preserving their people’s spiritual strength and performed many resistance rituals.

Some distinguished female figures of the Haitian Revolution include Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière, Sanité Bélair, and Dédée Bazile.

Though “Marianne Angelle” was not a real woman alive in the 18th century, her story is true. Gunderson’s choice to include Marianne in The Revolutionists makes a very specific statement. Marianne’s character tells the audience that some of the most significant freedom fighters were never even written down, often just because of the color of their skin. Marianne tells us that revolution is for all.

“I have reason to be curious. I have never seen one before.”

Said Charlotte Corday as she stepped up to the guillotine minutes before her execution. Born and raised in the countryside of northern France, Charlotte Corday is an unlikely, underground, and controversial hero in the Reign of Terror’s history.

Living a mere 24 years before death via guillotine, Corday is most famously known for assassinating Jean Paul Marat. Her most famous quote is: “I killed one man to save 100,000.” (Listen to see if you hear that in the show!)

Both Charlotte’s mother and sister died during her childhood. Because of this tragedy, the young country girl was sent to be raised in a covenant. Living there, Charlotte had access to a library too large for any ordinary country house. She became an avid reader of philosophers such as Plutarch, Rousseau, and Voltaire. This exposure to education is what started Charlotte on her political journey.

After the inital conflict of the Revolution, two groups emerged from the rebels: The Girondins and the Jacobins. The Jacobins rose to a level of power and radicalism that frightened the Girondins, the more moderate group. Charlotte, aligned with their thinking, became a Girondin sympathesizer. This automatically put her at odds with the Jacobins.

When Charlotte learned the radical plans of Jean-Paul Marat, prominent Jacobin figure, she decided to take action. Marat was a key leader in the Reign of Terror, a period that caused the death of thousands. Charlotte believed that Marat must die in order for the revolution to be successful.

Of course, there are many layers to these politics. More on this and the life, hardship, and hope of Charlotte Corday can be found in The Revolutionists.

“I thought I was ordering lunch!”

So says Marie Antoinette when asked about her infamous line: “Let them eat cake!”

Fabulous wigs, delicate teacups, elaborate lunches, tons upon tons of ribbon… these are the things we picture when we think of Marie Antoinette. And we do so for good reason. It is no secret that the French aristocracy was a sect of pompous, opulent, and colonizing nobility hungry to climb the ladder of European monarchies. However, they were still humans with families, backstories, and needs.

Marie Antoinette was not born a queen. She was the 15th and youngest child of an Austrian Empress, received less than satisfactory marks in school as a child, and lost her sister due to the smallpox epidemic in 1767. Her marriage to Louis Auguste, heir to the French throne, was an alliance formed by the couple’s parents. She was then trained for her new position.

Marie Antoinette is often portrayed in pop culture as everything wrong with the French monarchy. She is seen as privileged and ignorant of her citizens’ needs. While this was likely true of most 18th century monarchs, there is a case to be made in favor of the Queen’s humanity. After all, she did not chose her birth status nor the marriage that led to her reign in France. That does not excuse what the monarchy did, but it does give the modern audience a chance to critically examine what leads governments to such radicalism.

Gunderson invites us to see the humanity in every woman in The Revolutionists, including the ones doing harm. By dramatizing history, we learn from history. So, regardless of your initial reaction to seeing a Queen on the stage... this is an opportunity to learn from history, so we don’t repeat it.

If you cannot dramatize history, you cannot see yourself in it.

If you cannot see yourself in history, you will never learn from it.

Be a part of history today. Be a Revolutionist!

Revolutionists Tickets