freeFall Theatre looks at the price of celebrity in David Adjmi’s play, ‘Marie Antoinette’

Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the country revolted at the end of the 18th Century, has been a fascinating yet tragic character throughout history.

A well known royal figure whose image and words have become that of legend, Antoinette had less in common with historic French women like Joan of Arc and Marie de Medici and more in common with modern American celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton.

This celebrity that Antoinette dealt with in her short 37 years is the focus of gay playwright David Adjmi’s 2012 play Marie Antoinette, playing at the freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg July 15- August 13.

“It’s a really interesting adaptation to the story of Marie Antoinette,” says freeFall Theatre’s artistic director Eric Davis. “I don’t even know if I would call it an adaptation. It’s a sort of a biographical play, but [Adjmi] takes a very contemporary approach to telling the story.”

Davis, who directs Marie Antoinette, says the play may carry the French queen’s name but it is more about how society viewed her celebrity more than examining her life.

“When I first read the play, to me, it had a lot to do with celebrity and the ways we as a culture build these people up and adore them as idols that are sort of out of reach and out of touch,” Davis says.

Marie Antoinette is a play about the French queen, but it isn’t trying to be a history lesson, Davis says.

“I think the play is less about Marie Antoinette than it’s about us,” he says. “Marie Antoinette is a character and an archetype for something that happens over and over in history, and I hope audiences identify that relevance of the play.”

While they are not affiliated at all, Adjmi’s play and Sophia Coppola’s 2006 film of the same name take a similar approach to Antoinette: A well-known figure living more than 200 years ago viewed through a 21st century lens, using modern language and music, and applying her to today’s celebrity and wealth culture. Antoinette, along with her husband King Louis XVI, would have very much been a part of the 1 percent spoken about so much during this past election.

“She was out of touch with common people and she lived a very lavish life,” Davis says. “She built a fantasy version of a peasant village at Versailles and would dress up in a fancy version of what a peasant girl would wear and frolic about. She lived a very decadent lifestyle.”

Antoinette, as one of the original “Mean Girls,” was even attacked in 18th century France’s version of social media, something Adjmi addresses in his play.

“One of the things that comes up in the play are these pamphlets that get circulated that have fictional stories and lies about her in the same way that modern celebrities deal with social media or tabloids making up stories,” Davis says. “You know, it’s the whole ‘fake news’ thing that we deal with now on social media. There’s this information floating around out there and we don’t know what’s true or not.”

Besides the similarities to pop culture, Davis says the play has taken on more relevance since the Trump family moved into the White House.

“Now that we have a President and first family that are celebrities themselves and live this very wealthy detached lifestyle for themselves and they are now governing the country, I think there are a lot of parallels that can be seen with the mistakes that Marie makes and some of the decisions coming out of the administration,” he says.

Comparisons of the current presidential family to historical figures portrayed in plays has caused some controversy for the theater community as of late. A production of Julius Caesar in New York is portraying the title character in a bit of a Trumpian fashion. Davis thinks those being critical of the comparisons are taking away the wrong message.

“Artists are always trying to be part of the conversation and they always want their art to be relevant,” he says. “With Marie Antoinette or in the case of Julius Caesar, they’re not changing the play. The play is about what it’s about; they’re giving a visual clue on how the play is relevant to us and that’s their interpretation.”

Davis thinks that the violence that occurs in both his play and Julius Caesar are not meant to encourage it as a means to solve society’s problems, just the opposite actually.

“Somebody who thinks it’s a play that advocates for violence, hasn’t understood the play they are seeing,” he says. “The violence that happens in Julius Caesar and the violence in Marie Antoinette are not glorified in any way. The use of violence causes horrible outcomes for both societies.”

The deeper conversation Davis would like to see from the audience coming away from Marie Antoinette is that of the value of this thing called “celebrity.”

“Especially in modern times, the value of celebrity definitely has gone down, and I think that’s another way in which this play is much more about us than it is about Marie Antoinette,” Davis says. “It’s looking at her in the light of contemporary celebrity culture, and we live in a culture where celebrity is cheap. We create celebrities out of almost anything; you don’t really need to have a specific talent or purpose to be a celebrity in our culture. So an archetype of Marie Antoinette is the perfect surrogate for that idea, because we’re ultimately left thinking, ‘What was her value?’”

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