‘Revolt’ taps into relationships at all levels
Be a good girl. Don’t break the rules. Behave. This play is not well behaved. Alice Birch’s “Revolt.
She Said. Revolt Again” captures the fury of modern womanhood. The script examines the language, behavior and forces shaping 21st century women and asks what’s stopping us from radically changing them.
The show opens on Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Tricklock Performance Laboratory.
“In some ways, it asks what the world would look like if women literally took control of the language around their sexuality and the difference between ‘made love to’ and ‘made love with, ’ ” director Hannah Kauffmann said.
Explored in a visceral, vignette-driven style, “Revolt” challenges its audience to question everything they say to, about and around women.
“There are a lot of words we use without fully realizing it that place women in a secondary position,” Kauffmann said. “We talk about statistics about how many women are raped,” Kauffmann said. “But we don’t think about how many men rape. It’s about turning that around.”
Along the way, “Revolt” explores the workplace, marriage, the relationships between mothers, daughter and granddaughters and how they become who they are.
Birch wrote the play for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2014. When it opened in London, The Telegraph dubbed this call for a feminist revolution “a cluster-bomb of subversion.”
Structured as a series of manifestoes, Birch’s script couldn’t be more prescient. But its timing within the maelstrom of sexual harassment charges against Hollywood czars such as Harvey Weinstein is accidental.
Kauffmann was driven to stage the play after reading a review of a production by New York’s Soho Repertory last fall.
“We’re a company led by women; we have a female-led board,” she said.
“Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.” stars Diana Delgado, Juli Hendren, Katy Houska, Elsa Menendez and Drew Morrison. Original music by Kyle Wayne Ruggles.