Auditions for The Revolutionists RESCHEDULED AGAIN

RESCHEDULED AGAIN TO JANUARY 22 AND 23 due to continued hazardous driving conditions in our area.  7-9pm at the Barbershop Theater. 

• Cold reading from the script (SIDES LINK HERE) and a brief a capella song. 
• Please contact the director at Stephanie.B.Dillard@gmail.com to have a recording mailed to you. 
• Bring a current resume and headshot if you have them. (AUDITION FORM LINK HERE) 
• VIDEO SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED! Send your recorded sides (no memorization needed, no partner reader needed, full-body shot preferred) to WomenInTheatreNashville@gmail.com by noon 1/23.
• All actors will receive a $200 stipend on closing night.

The Revolutionists is a play by the brilliant and hilarious Lauren Gunderson about four very real women who lived boldly in France during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Playwright Olympe De Gouge, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, lose their heads and try to beat back the extremist insanity in the Paris of 1793. What was a hopeful revolution for the people is now sinking into hyper violent hypocritical male rhetoric. My, however will modern audiences relate?? This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world.

Content Label:  PG-13 for adult themes & language

WIT Nashville is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to creating a safe place for actors of all backgrounds to explore their craft. All auditions are free and open to the public. This audition is for an amateur, volunteer production. The WIT staff and volunteers do not discriminate on the basis of age, national origin, race, gender, ethnic background, ability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or any protected class. Auditions will be held in person at the Barbershop Theater. A headshot will be taken at auditions to be used for casting purposes only.

SHOW SYNOPSIS

Four badass women lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. A playwright, an assassin, a former queen, and spy hang out and try to beat back the extremist havoc in 1793 Paris. A dream-tweaked comedy about legacy, art, activism, feminism, chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world. Beneath the humor lies some important issues to be pondered. Who are the heroes and who are the victims in history, and why do they sometimes change over time? Does the pen dominate the sword? Why have women’s contributions not received adequate recognition, and why have they not achieved the same standing as men? Why do minorities, the poor, and the already oppressed continue to suffer abuse by the privileged?

PREPARATION NOTES

Contact the director (Stephanie.B.Dillard@gmail.com) to receive a recording of the a cappella song from The Revolutionists (Let It Be Me) to become familiar with. There will be a short time during the audition process that will focus on singing the show’s anthem (Let It Be Me) a cappella. Please note that if you are only interested in the Olympe role, you will not be required to sing. 

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

All but one character does not have a specific race or ethnic background; we're excited to see a diverse pool of actors audition for these roles! Please note that the character of Marianne, a Haitian, does require an actor who identifies as a person of color. 

OLYMPE DE GOUGE 

Desired Actor Gender: Female Presenting 

Character Age: 40-55 

Character Race: Any 

Character Ethnicity: Any 

Ability/movement: On stage the entire play. Sit, stand, lean, climb and be comfortable with ascending and descending stairs. Possibly down on the floor at times.  Olympe, a visionary and radical in every action she took, who dared to push the definition of equality beyond where male rebels believed it could extend. French playwright and vocal activist, Olympe believed that a true revolution would give equal rights to the men and women of France. She advocated for the abolition of slavery in the colonies, and died for her belief. Olympe de Gouges spent her adult life composing political pamphlets, writing plays to advocate for gender equality, and shouting to make men hear even a whisper of her voice.  

MARIANNE ANGELLE 

Desired Actor Gender: Female Presenting 

Character Age: 25-45 

Character Race: Black 

Character Ethnicity: Any 

Vocals: Able to sing a cappella 

Ability/movement: On stage nearly the entire play. Sit, stand, lean, climb and be comfortable with ascending and descending stairs. Possibly down on the floor at times.  Based most loosely upon the historical canon, Marianne Angels. Marianne is a blend of various women of color who sought equality during the French Revolution in order to raise up women’s realities not only in France itself, but also on one of its island colonies, Saint-Domingue. Three years after the French Revolution began, the Haitian Revolution became one of the largest and the first fully successful slave revolt in history. Spurred by witnessing French citizens cry out against royal domination, both free and enslaved people of color on the island were inspired to demand freedom and equality through the same means as their mainland influence. Marianne serves as a spokeswoman for those fighting against the tyranny of colonialism and slavery.

CHARLOTTE CORDAY 

Desired Actor Gender: Female Presenting 

Character Age: 18-30 

Character Race: Any 

Character Ethnicity: Any 

Vocals: Able to sing a cappella 

Ability/movement: On stage nearly the entire play. Sit, stand, lean, climb and be comfortable with ascending and descending stairs. Possibly down on the floor at times.  Charlotte is the woman who stabbed radical journalist and politician Jean-Paul Marat. While Marat’s legacy and name recognition has thrived thanks to his role as a martyr for the rebels, Charlotte faded into obscurity. Her action may have left a permanent mark on history, but her independent and powerful persona is most often reduced to “the nameless woman who killed Marat." The French Revolution’s male-centered narrative seeks to eradicate all of Corday’s agency, emphasizing how Marat’s murder and legacy influenced the revolutionists’ thinking rather than Corday’s own political statement or how her act forever transformed how women could participate in revolution. Through exploring her story leading up to her attack on Marat and her time spent in jail afterwards while obscuring the moment of violence itself, The Revolutionists restores Charlotte’s voice and story to its rightful place in history.

MARIE ANTOINETTE 

Desired Actor Gender: Female Presenting 

Character Age: 35-45 

Character Race: Any 

Character Ethnicity: Any 

Vocals: Able to sing a cappella 

Ability/movement: On stage nearly the entire play. Sit, stand, lean, climb and be comfortable with ascending and descending stairs. Possibly down on the floor at times.  Arguably the most recognized symbol of privilege during the revolution, Marie was perceived both then and now as just that, a symbol. Although her reputation is based almost exclusively on what society accredits as her most defining character traits–naive, privileged, and apathetic–the Marie Antoinette we know from history is nothing more than a caricature of the perception of women in revolutionary France. Even her infamous response to being informed that the peasants were revolting, “let them eat cake,” is now largely believed to be manufactured in order to demonize the French queen. Revolutionists hated Marie for her obsession with material goods and lack of sympathy towards the public struggle and criticized her entitled, callow nature. What they failed to recognize, however, was that Marie was also a young woman separated from her family, immersed in an unfamiliar culture and language who had a whole lot of expectations forced upon her by accident of her birth. The goal of The Revolutionists is not to excuse her entirely of blame or collusion, but instead, to instill Marie with some of the humanity and integrity of which time and reputation have robbed her.