Have you ever seen a four woman play take place in four different rooms?
Starting Oct. 23, “The Revolutionist,” a play about four unlikely friends, set during the French Revolution, can be viewed on multiple occasions.
This fairly new production is estimated by Carly McMinn, the director, to be about two years old. The copy they are using was written in 2018.
The production brings a group of four women together to share in their own revolution for equality for all and not just for white French men.
Because this is the first show of the season, things are still in the process of adapting to social distancing.
McMinn explained that the cast will be using a Zoom webinar that can have a panel for the actors and will completely mute the audience upon arrival. The idea to use this setup came from their department chair, Robert Caisley, who used this format to produce one of his own shows.
“When someone registers, they receive first a confirmation for the performance they wish to attend,” McMinn said. “The confirmation also instructs them to complete the transaction and pay for their tickets. Once they’ve paid for their tickets online, they receive the access link for the show.”
Student will automatically receive the access link for the performance without payment.
Rehearsals for “The Revolutionist” have been held on Zoom ever since they began and the cast has faced the same technical issues that most people have also experienced like dropped connections, microphones cutting out or not working or a phone or computer dying.
For this reason, the actors will each be given their own room in Shoup Hall with their costumes, props (if necessary), and potential set design or backdrop.
Another interesting aspect of this play is that there are two separate casts. The first cast is made up of graduate students and upperclassmen and is referred to as Cast A, while the second is mainly freshman and sophomores and is referred to as Cast B.
“It’s the same story but it’s quite different how the actors have developed each of the characters (and) are quite different to their counterparts,” McMinn said. “It’s just a good chance to see a different approach to the same story.”
Megan Woodward, who plays Olympe De Gouges in Cast A explained that the sound effects required for the production is another strange technical roadblock they have had to overcome.
“There are like sounds in the play like the sound of a guillotine, and we have to figure out how to have the sound play and be heard while the actors are talking since Zoom only lets one person talk at a time,” Woodward said. “Also we have to sing a short little song, and singing in unison is impossible over Zoom so we have had to adjust the song so it’s one person at a time.”
Another student, Princess Kannah, plays Marianne in Cast B and is a theater student who transferred from Columbia Basin College in Washington.
Kannah’s previous theater director had recommended she try for this part, and she said before she got to UI the department reached out to her, asking her to audition.
UI students can attend the Zoom for free. For others, evening performances will be $5 plus tax and matinee performances will be “pay what you can.” For the 6 p.m. shows on Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31 you can register at www.uidaho.edu/6pmRevolutionists and for the 2 p.m. shows taking place on Oct. 24, 25, 31 and Nov. 1 you can register at www.uidaho.edu/2pmRevolutionists.
Paige Fiske can be reacked at arg-life@uidaho.edu.