Eradicate All Men: The Bold and Provocative Production of Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.
A review of Theater Erindale’s incredibly produced and wildly creative performance of an award-winning experimental play
As someone who has long been fascinated with theatre but never delved too deep into it, I was ecstatic to check out Theater Erindale’s production of Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. Written by Alice Birch in 2014, the play takes inspiration from a number of feminist writers and the radical SCUM Manifesto by Valeri Solanas. These influences are shown through the multiple premises presented by the play, all of which revolve around themes of gender and power, and serve to dissect the societal expectations of women.
The play is split into six vignettes, starting with a man (Adam Stein) and a woman (Jazmine Palmer) discussing the act of sex. The next scene consists of another couple (Sofia ‘Stevie’ Garcia and Vanessa Whyte) who discuss the idea of marriage after a proposal goes wrong. Afterwards, we see a woman (Ola Olupinyo) argue with her male employer as she wishes to be free from work on Mondays. The 4th scene consists of a woman stripping in the middle of a supermarket after being sexually assaulted, followed by a woman confronting her mother for ignoring her own daughter. The final part consists of multiple abstract scenes that all blend into each other before culminating in the characters pledging to topple the current system and annihilate all men.
Over the course of the show, I was blown away by the production and stage design, which was unlike any I had experienced before. Rather than being presented like a typical play, with the show taking place on a stage before a seated audience, Theater Erindale’s production opted for a more immersive experience, with the play taking place at the center of a large room. The audience is encouraged to move around to gain different viewing angles of the play, an aspect that resulted in a much more immersive experience. I shuffled around the room during each of the vignettes and discovered aspects that I would otherwise have missed had I remained seated at a single spot, such as the projector displaying information about the current scene.
Although numerous characters are present in the play, there were only five actors present in the production, with each of them playing multiple roles. Despite this limitation, the actors gave a phenomenal performance , as I never felt like I was watching the same characters. Adam Stein is convincing as both a sex obsessed man and a zealous boss, while Ola Olupinyo pulls off both a tired worker and an emotionally distant matriarch. Vanessa Whyte does an incredible job at playing a dissatisfied girlfriend and an agitating clerk alongside Sofia ‘Stevie’ Garcia, who perfectly complements their co-star in each of the scenes they share. Lastly, Jazmine Palmer gives a wonderful performance as a desperate mother and a woman who manages to wrestle back control from her male partner. A show like this can rest heavily on how well the performers do and in this case , they all nailed it.
During the last act of the play, each actor portrays a character that is part of their own vignette. Occasionally they cross paths and interact with each other, creating a sense of two worlds colliding. As it built towards its climax, the lights flickered constantly and eventually turned crimson, leading to its finale with most of the actors standing on a prop in the center of the room, pledging to eradicate all men before bowing down to the audience to signal the end of the show. All in all, I was amazed at how they did so much with so little, and communicated much to the audience through creative set pieces and witty dialogue. If you have even a passing interest in experimental theater, I would highly recommend checking out a performance of Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. from October 7th to 11th.
