Episode 45: Liberty

Was originally going to the Learning Grid to study past midnight with Chloe and Michelle, but I ended up dragging Michelle to Liberty at the Arts Centre because I didn't realise until mid-afternoon that the free tickets for the STARs were for tonight's performance. When we got there, I decided on impulse to buy both the programme booklet and an autographed copy of the script. Glyn Maxwell's Liberty is an adaptation of Anatole France's Les Dieux Ont Soif, and it's set during the French Revolution, specifically during the time of the Terror and ending with the Thermidorean Reaction. As I was sitting there, it suddenly dawned on me that the French Revolution was possibly the only part of my 'A' Level History syllabus that I can say I actually enjoyed. Okay, I guess the Italian Revolution was interesting too, but hardly as poetic as the French one in its course. I mean, a revolution against tyranny that itself descended into tyranny? I thought the play was good, especially the choice to end the action just when the Thermidorean Reaction descended on the Jacobins. For what is left unsaid then becomes the rise of the revolution's next powerful figure, Napoleon Bonaparte. Like I said, you just have to love the French Revolution for its cyclical drama. The theatre was really empty though, which was quite saddening. Ah well, at least I didn't miss out on a good play...