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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. Marie Antoinette Also see Susan's reviews of The Seven Year Itch and The Shoplifters
To begin with, Misha Kachman's extravagant set begins with layers of artifice: a carpet of fake grass on the floor, a classical fireplace painted bright green, billowing pink curtains, a distorted mirror reflecting the audience, and a functional hot tub. Marie, in a bikini and oversized sunglasses, hangs out with two ladies-in-waiting (Dawn Ursula, Sue Jin Song), snorting cocaine and posing for invisible paparazzi. "I just want an uncomplicated life," says the utterly unreflective Marie, ignoring the cosmic smack in the face she's about to get. The overall effect is cartoonish as staged by Urnov—Louis would rather tinker with clocks than pay any attention to his wife; a talking sheep (Sarah Marshall) accosts Marie as she plays at milking cows on her faux farm—until things turn bad and, for the first time, Marie is forced to look beyond herself and the privilege she took for granted. She complains about the weight of her towering cotton-candy wigs, but without them she's totally vulnerable. Gilbert dominates the production as she must, allowing her early petulance and petty outrage to ripen into self-awareness too late. Through most of the play, she's trying to reinvent herself, but mostly to make other people love and respect her. Isenberg is amusingly callow, Bradley Foster Smith entertains as an unctuous courtier, and Marshall can capture an audience with a look on her face. Helen Huang's costume designs blend elements from different historic eras; her wig designs are rather sculptural and determinedly non-realistic (though less extreme than what the real Marie wore). Jen Schreiver's lighting design and Eric Shimelonis' sound design add to the overall sense of disorientation.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
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