Theatre Review: ‘Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh’ presented by Perisphere Theater at The Writer’s Center

Laura Rocklyn as Elisabeth Vigée le Brun, Mecca Verdell as Marie Antoinette, and Gil Mitchell as Alexis de Ligne, Photo by DJ Corey Photography.

“Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh” is based on the life of groundbreaking artist, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, and her relationship with the doomed Queen Marie Antoinette. The DC area premiere of Joel Gross’ historical drama is currently being presented by Perisphere Theater. The play revels in art, love, friendship, beauty, jealousy, sex, and politics in the most dangerous and turbulent period of French history. It is witty, sophisticated, philosophical, sparkling, and ultimately, moving. The delectable interactions of the characters alternate with more serious discussions of the nature and purpose of art, altruism, government, and human connection. Although based on true events, the play is fiction, taking the interactions of three characters (two real, one imagined) as its canvas for examining a full palette of subjects, combining them into a harmonious, touching whole in the end.

The acting is superb…a treat that engages the eyes, the mind, and the heart…Don’t miss it.

Director Lizzie Albert makes everything flow smoothly, from the time periods (1775 -1793) before and during the French Revolution and in each scene of the play. One technique she employs to great effect is to have the actors stay in character and continue their action through the low-lit, scene changes. Assistant stage manager, La’Trelle Jamez, clad in an all-black version of 18th century dress, gracefully sets the stage. The effect is almost balletic. Albert also guides the actors smoothly through a full range of emotions, from sophisticated, rapid repartee to jealous fury, and tragic acceptance.

The technical team provides a suitable setting. Cheryl J. Williams’s sound adds helpful elements such as crowd noises, the most striking being a cello rendition of “La Marseillaise” in a minor key, highlighting the shift from hope to tragedy in the French Revolution. Gerrad Alex Taylor’s props fit the elegant mood, although it might have been better if the size of Le Brun’s canvas were larger, given her monumental subjects. The small square seems paltry for the importance and expense of the portraits being painted. Katie McCreary’s lighting gets the job done with some nice touches of fuchsia and red at appropriate moments. Simone Schneeberg’s simple set makes good use of damask drapes in complimentary colors to delineate scenes. (The only jarring note was the rough faux-marble paint technique on the cornices. Something more rococo would have suited the theme better.) One thing that would have added immensely is if Le Brun’s paintings could have been projected onto or above the set, giving the audience the chance to see their brilliance and evolution.

The acting is superb. Gil Mitchell portrays the play’s fictional love interest who woos both the painter and her patron. He starts the show with an aristocrat’s sense of puffed up self-importance and entitlement. He is young, pretty, rich, and accustomed to getting everything and everyone he wants—until he meets his match in Elisa. But he also has principles, with a seemingly genuine passion for France and its people. These progress from the abstract, idealized, and shallow to heartfelt, real, and nuanced over the course of the play. Similarly, his demeanor and looks change as his character deepens. He starts off with what Eliza celebrates as rosy, peaches-and-cream skin, beautiful hair, and a swagger to match. When he returns from fighting in the American Revolution, he looks subdued, even haggard, and no longer physically perfect. His glow of wealth and privilege has been snuffed out by the rigors of war and the true horrors of revolution. Yet his love for the two women in his life and the people of his country remains.

Mecca Verdell rises to the challenge embodying Marie Antoinette, possibly the most entitled woman in history, delivering the most extreme character arc in the show. On her journey from young, spoiled, oblivious, yet lonely, girl who longs for love to a woman comically disgusted by sex when she finally gets it, to a reluctant political figurehead who is reviled no matter what she does, and finally a tragic, doomed queen, Verdell hits all her notes perfectly. It is amazing that she can personify one of the most privileged people on earth and manage to make her sympathetic.

Laura Rocklyn is nothing less than sublime as Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Her portrayal delights from start to finish. Her looks make it no stretch that she could be considered the most beautiful woman in Paris, but it is her intelligence that shines brighter than any other quality. She shows wit, charm, and self-assurance that only a woman who has broken into the upper echelons of a man’s profession and risen from poverty to consort with Queens can possess. She beautifully handles the tension between the ambitious artist—using others to climb into the society that will give her success—and the genuinely affectionate and devoted friend to Marie. She also expertly delivers the complex jealousy of a woman who introduced her lover to her rival and the fury of a woman who blames the man she loves for the loss of all she holds dear, but loves him still.

It is no disrespect to these excellent actors to say that the show has another star: Hannah Brill’s exquisite costumes. They are absolutely integral to telling the story, from Marie’s sumptuous gowns to her imprisonment rags. The glorious outfits in the beginning of the play—Elisa’s teal silk taffeta gown, Alexis’s shimmering blue court suit, and Marie’s over-the-top pink gowns swooped up into luxurious puffs and folds—exquisitely show the excess that helped usher in the revolution. (There is also an impressive amount of quick costume changes for such elaborate outfits.) The greatest service the costumes offer is to locate the action precisely in time. They are perfect in their historical detail and pinpoint the moments of the action over a two-decade period. The devotion to accuracy is such that the actresses not only wear “stays” (early corsets that are crucial to obtain the proper silhouettes) but change them during the performance to show the shift from the formality of the 1770s to the greater ease and casualness of the 1790s, as revolutionary fervor began to affect fashion as well as politics. Even more important for a play about portraiture, the costumes replicate some of the most famous outfits from the portraits, including one of Le Brun’s self-portraits, and the infamous white, fluffy Chemise à la Reine that (before it became a ubiquitous fashion item) scandalized Paris. Although the people criticized Marie Antoinette relentlessly for her extravagant and expensive clothes, when she was painted in a simple, white—shockingly inappropriately for a queen! Le Brun was forced to quickly make a copy of the painting with Marie in an elaborate blue court gown instead.

Presented by Perisphere Theater, a professional troupe based in Bethesda that specializes in historical dramas that speak to contemporary concerns, “Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh” is a treat that engages the eyes, the mind, and the heart. Before you even close this review, I advise you to open another window and order tickets. It deserves to be seen by everyone. Don’t miss it.

Running Time: Two hours including a 10-minute intermission.