Pittsburgh in the Round: To enter the University of Pittsburgh’s production of Marie Antoinette in the Cathedral of Learning’s Studio Theater is to be confronted. Actors dressed alternately as nobles or revolutionaries either welcome you to the party as you enter or congratulate you on being on the right side of history, respectively. Accompanying them are at least a half dozen maps and pieces of French art, all plastered by bright red text stylized as graffiti. “Make France Great Again,” reads one, but all pieces more or less emphasize that the tagger in question is not, in fact, With Her.
2 comments:
I haven’t seen the production, but I can see exactly why it is so timely. As soon as the article said, “... a woman intellectually hardened by privilege; she has every material thing a person could want for, yet has so precious little to live for.” I immediately thought of Trump and it is an apt comparison. In our current world, I think absurdism is one of the best ways to express the feeling of living in a world beyond comprehension, and seeming random. But I think the choice to put “Make France Great Again”, is interesting because it makes an immediate connection to current events. However, it could either hammer home the point a little too hard or give just the right suggestion of how these leaders compare to our current leaders. I would very much like to see this production, because I think it could give an insightful comment on current times.
What an interesting take on Marie Antoinette! I am very intrigued by this production at the University of Pittsburgh, and I wish that I had had the chance to see the show. The idea of making historical theatre pieces or new television shows and movies into commentaries on the Trump administration and our modern government is not a new one. It seems like almost every college in particular has their own way of commenting on American society today. This is not at all a bad thing; however I do think that it is becoming just a little bit harder to completely comment on Trump in a deeper or more thorough way with every new historical Trump-esque production that is put on. This production of a classic story seems very well done, and I think that the French Revolution, along with any historical revolution would greatly comment on the government that we see around us today.
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