Red Virgin: Louise Michel and the Paris Commune of 1871

A new musical about the tumultuous events of the great socialist uprising known as the Paris Commune of 1871. Written by company co-director Gary Graves, Red Virgin tells the story of Louise Michel, one of the most incendiary revolutionaries in the history of France — with live music from the period!

Background of the play: In the spring of 1871, the government of France surrendered to Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian War. But the working people of Paris refused to accept their government’s surrender, and instead ignited an insurrection that sent the French government fleeing from the city, and led to the establishment of a new socialist, revolutionary government. They called it the Paris Commune. The rebels held the city for two months, and instituted a wave of socialist changes, before the government forces recaptured Paris and crushed the rebellion in a horrific act of carnage known as the “Bloody Week,” when some 20,000 communards were put to death. Public trials, further executions, and a wave of deportations to far off penal colonies followed. One of the most remarkable figures to emerge from these tumultuous events was Louise Michel, whom history remembers as “the Red Virgin.”

Galen Murphy-Hoffman (member AEA) as Theo
and Josh Pollock as Gallifet.

Photo by Jim Norrena

Anna Ishida as Louise Michel.

Photo by Jim Norrena