UGA Theatre presents Alice Birch’s Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., directed by Elise Robinson, on Oct. 9-13 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 13 and 14 at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $12 or $7 for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased online at ugatheatre.com/revolt, via phone at 706-542-4400 or in person at the Performing Arts Center or Tate Center box offices.
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. was commissioned in 2014 for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s summer season, taking its inspiration from American historian Laurel Ulrich’s quote, “well-behaved women seldom make history.” Birch’s play went on to receive critical acclaim as a part of the RSC’s “Midsummer Mischief” season, featured alongside the work of other women playwrights. It is, as Slate reviewer Katy Waldman describes it, “a scalding cascade of interconnected vignettes exploring words and their limits” that challenges the deeply-rooted assumptions and attitudes about sex and gender in modern society.
Robinson, a doctoral candidate, was drawn to the play’s relevance to tumultuous times. “On the 100th anniversary of women’s admission to the university, we can look around to find inspirational women all over: in our classrooms, on our playing fields and in our performance spaces,” said Robinson.
For undergraduate and Revolt dramaturg Lukas Woodyard, much of this play’s strength can be found in its experimental structure, which eschews traditional narrative in order to spotlight specific issues. “This play does not have a conventional plot, conventional scenes or conventional characters. But it uses language itself to address the issues of facing women today while extending the conversation to include men and others who are stymied by patriarchal oppression, whether they realize it or not,” said Woodyard.
The emphasis on the power of language factored heavily into Robinson’s decisions to hold a special American Sign Language-interpreted performance during the run of the show. The ASL-interpreted performance will be held Oct. 13 at 2:30 p.m. and will feature two separate interpreters to account for the fast-paced dialogue of the show.