Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. - Alice Birch
Wit Theatre Inc.
Direction: Emily O’Brien-Brown
Cast: AYA, Lansy Feng, Madeliane Magee Carr, Jack Twelvetree
Set & Costume Design: Silvia Shao
Sound Design: STOZ
Lighting Design: Emily O’Brien-Brown
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. is a blistering examination of language and power. Through sharp, surreal, and darkly funny vignettes, it twists words into weapons and turns everyday rituals inside out. What begins as an assault on the language and traditions that have shaped “womanhood” becomes something larger: a call to tear down the systems of oppression that divide and diminish us all.
This production dismantled conventional staging, spreading the action across three distinct performance zones embedded within the audience. Rather than observing from a distance, the audience witnessed not only the scenes themselves, but the performers preparing, waiting, watching, and stepping in and out of action. Birch’s text invites this exposure; it thrives when the usually hidden mechanics of theatre are dragged into the light, when labour, rupture, and process become visible.
In rehearsing this play, we confronted the structures of oppression we all live inside (some of us more violently than others) and asked why we continue to accept the rituals and systems that shape our lives. Our hope was to gather people as a community, to confront the world we’ve built, and to recognise both our exhaustion and our collective power.
Reviews:
★★★★ “Fiercely distilled performance with smart direction and design choices” - The Age
★★★★ “Ferociously directed by Emily O’Brien-Brown. ” - Theatre Matters
“O’Brien-Brown’s direction is razor sharp. The stage is on fire from beginning to end.” - The Dialogue
“An inspired piece of creativity. Rarely do all elements come together with such unity.” - Theatre Travels
“It’s rare to encounter a text this abrasive, rarer still to encounter a group of artists successful in bringing that text to such fabulous life.”
- Australian Arts Review
