Review: The Glorious French Revolution (New Diorama Theatre)

Review by Izzy Tierney

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you're a Horrible Histories fan who has ever wished for a more adult, sweary version performed live in front of you, then head on down to New Diorama Theatre for their latest production, The Glorious French Revolution (or: why sometimes it takes a guillotine to get anything done). The title may be long, but the play itself is only ninety minutes, making it a very short amount of time to cover the entire French Revolution and the relevance of it in 21st century Britain. However, it mostly succeeds. 

YESYESNONO are the minds behind this Brechtian piece of theatre, consisting of writer and director Sam Ward, and producer Rhian Davies. Their debut show ‘Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist’ won them the Total Theatre Award for Best Emerging Company in 2017, and they have since gone on to show their subsequent works ‘the accident did not take place’ and ‘we were promised honey!’ all over the country. The Glorious French Revolution (for everyone's sake, I won't keep typing out the full name) is their biggest show yet, and it delivers an exciting mix of comedy, education, and rage at societal injustices.

The writing is clever, managing to switch from funny to heartfelt, to satirical to poignant, without feeling disjointed or incoherent, and crucially still remaining informative. There's more than just an interesting history lesson on offer though; the passion behind the project consistently shines through the jokes and silliness and the story grounds itself with the experiences of the revolutionaries, particularly in the scenes where The Reign of Terror is portrayed. This segment of the show is an overwhelming, genuinely thrilling piece of theatre, where the harrowing sound of chants and music pair beautifully with the frantic writing on the wall and never-ending movement of the actors.

The direction too is faultless throughout, with Sam Ward's clear vision in the book executed (guillotine pun) perfectly on stage in what can only be described as impeccably organised chaos. The creative team barely put a foot wrong: Tom Foskett-Barnes’ music elevates every dramatic moment perfectly, Han Sayles’ lighting never fails to complement the settings and whirlwind of emotions, and Hazel Low's gym style costumes contrast the serious nature of the topic while playing into the fun element of the show, and allowing the actors to seamlessly switch roles.

Bringing this all to life is a small but mighty cast of five, consisting of Joe Boylan, Paul Brendan, Sha Dessi, Jessica Enemokwu, and Alice Keedwell. They play a total of thirty-six different characters in the ninety minutes they're on stage, and just in case that wasn't impressive enough, some of these roles are portrayed by different cast members at various points throughout the show. They work fantastically together, almost becoming a single organism that weaves the story together, and each one of them gives every bit of energy they have to the performance (both figuratively and literally - the whole thing seems like one hell of a workout!). This enthusiasm is reflected back at them with little hesitation and a lot of laughing during a fun bit of audience participation, but also with the stunned silence that accompanies the most powerful and unsettling moments.

The final, arguably most powerful moment in the play is unfortunately where The Glorious French Revolution doesn't quite hit the mark. The synopsis for the show states that it takes us through August 1792, July 1974, and January 2024. Whilst it does a brilliant job at the first two, the present day ending feels lacklustre. YESYESNONO and New Diorama Theatre were kind enough to gift us a playtext, which states that what is written may not exactly match what was performed as it was printed during rehearsals. The synopsis and script both make it very clear that the end is supposed to be about the extreme wealth hoarded by billionaires today. On stage this is shown only through sound, with a recording of obviously rich people enjoying expensive food and drink in an unseen room, whilst a member of their staff brings them a birthday cake as the rest of the cast silently assemble a guillotine.

The issue is that the conversations were hard to make out. There were odd lines I heard but nothing to tell me who these people were, why they were celebrating and ultimately what the point of them was. The playtext talks about these characters having highly paid jobs, how two of them went to the same private boarding school together, and the matters they discussed like the protesters blocking the roads and how they “believed whole-heartedly that ‘people in this world don't want to work anymore'.” It is an important ending, highlighting the motif that ‘the revolution is not over.’ Sadly this doesn't deliver the punch it should as much of the dialogue is hard to understand, rendering the inclusion of the present day wealth inequalities almost meaningless.

I also can't help but wish the final song and speech written in the rehearsal script had made it into the final product. In a monologue discussing how powerless and helpless many of us feel watching how broken the system is, Ward states he is not trying to make an argument for or against the use of violence (in this case obviously the use of guillotines) but goes on to question how we define violence and murder:

“Tens of thousands of disabled people died because some people wanted to get richer… Why aren't we allowed to talk about that as murder?”

Without reading the playtext, I would never have known about this and would have assumed the play needed a bit more material at the end, but seeing it was written and then cut is frustrating as it displays the full potential this show really has, but is also promising, as hopefully more of the original script can be worked into the production.

In a play that does not shy away from the brutality of the French Revolution and the centuries of feudalism responsible for it, a deeper exploration of how the French Revolution is still relevant is needed for the show to have the impact it more than deserves. Despite this, The Glorious French Revolution in its current form is still a captivating experience, and whether you love or hate the idea of a ludicrous history lesson, it's one I highly recommend going to see.

The Glorious French Revolution plays at the New Diorama Theatre until December 14th

For tickets and information visit https://newdiorama.com/whats-on/the-glorious-french-revolution-or-why-sometimes-it-takes-a-guillotine-to-get-anything-done

Photos by Alex Brenner