Theatrix presents 'The Revolutionists'
calendar icon29 Oct 2021
Lincoln, Neb.--Theatrix, the student-run theatre company in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, presents “The Revolutionists” by Lauren Gunderson.
Performances are Nov. 4-5 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 7 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in the Lab Theatre, located on the third floor of the Temple Building at 12th and R sts. Tickets are $7 general admission and $5 for students, available at https://unltheatretickets.universitytickets.com or at the door (cash only).
“It’s about four women, who were around during the French Revolution,” said director Francoise Traxler, a senior performance major in the Carson School from Broomfield, Colorado. “Three of them are based on real women, and the fourth is a composite of women. It’s basically them trying to tell their story and create their own revolution, in spite of the largely male-driven revolution that was actually happening at the time.”
The play centers on playwright Olympe De Gouges (Hannah Mason), assassin Charlotte Corday (Calli Mah), former queen Marie Antoinette (Bailey Wewel) and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle (Aeris Esterly-Tilmon) during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793-1794).
As Marie Antoinette says in the play, “Sometimes a revolution needs a woman’s touch.”
Traxler said it was these four characters that drew her to want to direct the production.
“Obviously, I’m a French woman myself, and it reminded me a lot of kind of my values in life,” she said. “They’re all strong women. They’re all funny. They’re just hilarious, and they’re very, very different people. The story that they get to tell and the things they face are really moving, while still being entertaining to watch.”
She said audiences will learn something, but in a fun way.
“It’s a fun time. It’s not just a history lesson,” she said. “Think ‘Les Miserables’ with more women and less crying.”
Traxler is directing her first college production with these performances.
“As an acting major, I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to get my thoughts as a director lined up in a way that I can share them with the people in the cast, as well as my production team,” Traxler said. “It’s challenging because this play isn’t super cut and dried. It’s meta-theatre, which basically means that it is confusing. So it’s been interesting figuring out for the actors, what is in their heads versus what is really happening. And how much of this play is actually based around history, and how much has been embellished.”
Traxler said Theatrix productions are really theatre in its purest form.
“It’s just a few actors, a director and then a few designers, and they really create something beautiful that we sometimes miss in commercial theatre,” she said. “It’s what I think of when I think of college theatre. It’s a bunch of people working together because they want to create some form of art and just share it for a few days. So it’s really precious and short.”
Working on this production has brought her joy.
“I’ve gained a lot of joy from it,” she said. “There’s something really beautiful about getting to watch these four women experiment and getting to be part of that process, and also getting to look at all of these designers come together and watch their visions meld into something. Work with the Theatrix team and see that we’re all working towards this goal of just this play has been really artistically fulfilling.”