Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh at Perisphere Theater

Another DC Area Premiere! Co-artistic director Lizzi Albert will direct Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh, by Joel Gross, which will run June 6-21, 2025. The Color of Flesh imagines a love triangle on the eve of the French Revolution between Marie Antoinette; Elisabeth Vigée le Brun, the beautiful, ambitious portrait painter who made her image famous; and the fictional Count Alexis de Ligne, whose enthusiastic embrace of revolutionary ideas spell disaster for the doomed Queen. 

Albert staes: "Marie brings together so many of my favorite things: art, romance, spirited women doing their best in a patriarchal society, the clash between idealism and reality. But this story, while unfolding against the decadent backdrop of 18th century France, touches on some of the most urgent questions of our modern age. We’re living through a moment where women’s rights and America’s foundational democratic ideals both face existential threats, and the ever-widening gulf between rich and poor continues to destabilize our society and undermine the American Dream. I look forward to teasing out these resonances with the artistic team. I’m also thrilled to be working with one of my favorite actors and historical interpreters, Laura Rocklyn, who will play Elisabeth Vigée le Brun, the remarkable portraitist at the center of this story."

Authors

• Joel Gross