The Revolutionists
A play. Millsaps college
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Mrs. Percy Bysshe Shelley, began inventing Science Fiction when she was eighteen and finished it when she was nineteen. I've had people try to argue with me that her debut novel, “The Modern Prometheus,” didn't actually invent Science Fiction. They all lost. Don't challenge me on this boy, this is my briar patch. You may doubt the fundamental power of girls, but I never have.
“The Revolutionists” by Lauren Gunderson was the opening production of the Millsaps College 2025-2026 Season. Described by the author as a “comedy,” it is a thinly disguised treatise on the ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, the same ideas that created the United States. Comparisons between the French Reign of Terror and the current climate in the United States don't travel far unhidden in this play. Considering the audience, a warm feeling crept over me knowing this.
“Here we are again”, it seems.
I've been trying to decide what I want to say about Guillermo del Toro's “Frankenstein,” but I'm not there yet, so I’ve decided to spend my Midnight-to-Dawn writing time on this instead. There are apparent similarities.
The play is a fictional encounter between Olympe de Gouges, Charlotte Corday, Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle, discussing the murder of Murat, the death of the king, the loss of love, and who will finish the play with their head.
Many years ago, when the play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” came out, its Los Angeles debut coincided with my annual pilgrimage to the West. Knowing my friend Angela and me from a very early online chat room, the playwright left us tickets at the will-call window. The rest of the world knows him for his banjo proficiency, but to us, he was a chat pal who had serial girlfriend problems, just like me.
The format of putting famous people who never met in a room to discuss very serious things, and misslabeling it “comedy,” has grown considerably since then.
I've often written about how a sometimes inconsistent God saved America from what happened in France, even though both were willing to kill and die for the very same ideas. America is hardly mentioned in Revolutionists; its presence is never unfelt.
My Boy Sam arranged for a history professor, a literature professor, and an art professor (Dr. Anne MacMaster, Dr. Sarah Williams, and Dr. Amy Forbes) to give a curtain talk on the French Revolution. Except for Brent and me, hardly anyone there was alive when it happened. I managed to remain quiet until they brought up a slide depicting “The Death of Murat,” by Jacques-Louis David. That's always been my entree into the subject matter. It's one of the most studied paintings ever.
My comment was about the similarities between the painting and Michelangelo's “La Pietà,” reflecting some of the differences of opinion on Murat, discussed in this play (and at least two others).
Sam directs both for movement and for Tableau. That's actually very difficult to do. Watching the play, I became very reacquainted with how he constructs them. I've been exposed to his work for a long time.
Educational theatre is perhaps the most crucial type of theatre, as it creates not only artists but also audiences. Gotta get ‘em when they're young. People leaving the Millsaps Players have accomplished quite a lot.
I love watching young people grow at Millsaps. Considering the effort that creates a place like that, that's what makes it worthwhile. Seeing the new “Everything Kid”, Jasmine, I asked if she had grown over the summer. She laughed. Then I asked how much longer we can keep her. Two more years. We’re safe.
All four actors were remarkable and showed tremendous development from last year. During intermission, I pulled Sam aside and asked him what Koda did over the summer. She's grown huge! In the theatre, that's a very good thing. We briefly discussed whether it was her or the role, which is also something theatre people talk about.
In the dark, in the night, waiting for my ride, I thought about the play and where this performance fits into my memory of Millsaps, and Mississippi.
There are two performances left of “The Revolutionists” at Millsaps. The school subsidizes ticket prices, and we offer a complimentary glass of wine with your ticket purchase. Not French Wine. We're not that generous. Oh, you can eat cake.
