Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight


                         

by Lauren Gunderson
directed by Iris Sowlat
The Curtain Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts
March 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 & 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee March 9 at 2 p.m.

Most people, if they know her at all, recognize Emilie, La Marquise du Châtelet, as Voltaire’s lover. She was also a brilliant scientist who contributed to our understanding of physics. Eighteenth-century France was even more hostile than our society to women who “want it all,” and on the eve of her death from childbirth, Emilie tracks "love vs. science" on a scoreboard to see which dominated her life more. Lauren Gunderson’s thoughtful, wistful play invites us along as this charismatic, daring intellectual investigates her life choices.

Runtime approx. 2 hours with intermission
Recommended for audiences age 16 and up; discussion and depiction of death in childbirth, romantic relationships