Woolly Mammoth to Present MARIE ANTOINETTE, 9/15-10/12

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the first offering of its 35th season: David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, a highly contemporary look at the famously iconic and controversial queen of France, from her growing celebrity to her ultimate demise at the hands of those who had once extolled her. Woolly Company Member Kimberly Gilbert will take on the role of Marie in a production directed by new Woolly Company Member Yury Urnov, who last directed at Woolly in 2012, with the World Premiere production of You For Me For You. Marie Antoinette will run from Monday, September 15 to Sunday, October 12, 2014.

In a world of empty celebrity and economic crisis, how's a teen queen to keep her head? Marie Antoinette tells the story of the cake enthusiast and infamous one-percenter who realizes too late that there's an unstoppable revolution brewing outside her window. Through the play's incisive contemporary lens, history's most notorious teenager becomes a full-blooded, complex, and tragic heroine. The production shines a light on a society-not unlike ours-that might just be consuming itself to death.

"I am thrilled to welcome one of America's most brilliant young playwrights back to Woolly, along with visionary director Yury Urnov," says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. "David Adjmi's crisp and sometimes hilarious script makes this a Marie Antoinette for America today, a potent symbol of all the things that keep us from seeing the real forces bearing down on us-our cult of celebrity, our fatuous politics, the insane pressures and scant tools we give to our children, the pace of change we can hardly fathom."

Marie Antoinette's extraordinary cast includes Woolly Company Members Sarah Marshall* (Civilization (all you can eat), Full Circle) and Dawn Ursula* (The Totalitarians, recipient of the 2013 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play for her role in The Convert). The production will also feature veteran Woolly performers Joe Isenberg* (We Are Proud To Present...) and Cole Edelstein (Appropriate).

More information about Marie Antoinette and Woolly's 35th Anniversary Season can be found at woollymammoth.net.