JULIE LOUISE

JULIE LOUISE Don Druick 113 Arthur Street South • Elmira Ontario Canada N3B 2N8 T 519 669-4969 • F 519 669-8889 • E [email protected]

Draft NINE © Don Druick elmirà 2000

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are truly loved. - Victor Hugo

A play in two acts for three actors. The setting is Paris, Rome, Saint Petersburg; 1780 to 1842. Characters ÉLISABETH VIGÉE-LEBRUN, an artist JULIE LOUISE LEBRUN, Élisabeth’s daughter MARIANE, the heroine of Julie Louise’s novel.

Mariane is Julie Louise’s fictional heroine. She is not in the world of the play –– that quality is reserved for Julie Louise and Élisabeth –– and because of this, Mariane can, for instance, do anything. It could be quite charmingly strange: Julie Louise and Mariane could dress alike. Julie Louise’s song could be Medieval and French. Something troubadour, perhaps?

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Acknowledgements: Niki Lipman, Jeannette Lambermont, Susie Lamarche, Joan Coutu, Jane Buyers, Mollye Reisler, Sybil Goldstein, Zoë Druick, Allegra Fulton, Rosie Dunsmore, Haida Paul, Dianne Fries, Joanna Noyes, Ali Giron, Brooke Johnson, Cheryl Sourkes, Stuart Scadron-Wattles, Brian Quirt, Richard Rose, Lally Cadeau, Linda Carson, Virgil Burnett, Tony Urquhart, Richard Monette, Soo Garay. And Fuller Productions, the Laidlaw Foundation, the Stratford Festival, the Canada Council. Some material has been translated from SOUVENIRS by Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun, Paris 1835.

To Haida Paul, brilliant and beloved, for this and so much else....

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Act One, scene 01 JULIE LOUISE It was very silent yesterday in the Hotel de Lambert. A universe of one with many names, all of them silent. Me, who is Jeanne, after Mother’s Mother who I never knew, and me who is Julie, which is my own name, and and me who is Louise, after my.... Mother, and me who is LeBrun, which is Papa’s name. Papa. For now, you see, for me, now, there is no more time. I look and I can see the light, very beautiful the light, yesterday in the gallery overlooking the garden. I can hear boats on the river. I can hear myself singing quietly the song Papa taught me. JULIE LOUISE sings. JULIE LOUISE Papa was resting. My Mother was away. This universe of quiet sounds. And ice. From the beginning, it was very silent in the Hotel de Lambert. I dreamed a happy dream of a girl named Mariane. ÉLISABETH enters. ÉLISABETH At last it is beginning to happen for me. JULIE LOUISE Maman.... Maman.... Maman.... ÉLISABETH I, your Mother, this day, was at Versailles to attend the Queen’s levée. The Queen’s levée. JULIE LOUISE What was it like, Maman? ÉLISABETH We waited in a dark little room, a tiny tiny oval window way way up high. JULIE LOUIE Why, Maman? ÉLISABETH To greet our Queen, of course, the glorious Marie Antoinette. It was so crowded, I stepped on someone’s foot. They laugh.

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ÉLISABETH My apologies. Ah, what can one do? So much room in the palace and we must all crowd into this little closet. They laugh. ÉLISABETH We enter the bedroom, our august Queen by the window. A warm light pervading the room, the courtyard below full of sunshine. So beautiful. JULIE LOUISE Does she have a bed. Maman? Does the Queen have a bed? ÉLISABETH A beautiful bed. Fit for a Queen. They laugh. ÉLISABETH Its on a little stage of red wood behind a gilded balustrade.... JULIE LOUISE What’s: gilded? ÉLISABETH Golden. JULIE LOUISE Ooooo.... ÉLISABETH And in each corner are feathers and plumes like fountains of roaring water cascading over mountains. JULIE LOUISE Ooooo.... ÉLISABETH I am presented to the Queen. ÉLISABETH addresses JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE ÉLISABETH (to ANTOINETTE) Your Majesty.... Your Majesty, I am Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Such an exceptionally radiant captivating young woman. And, I understand, a talented painter of flowers as well?

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ÉLISABETH I have recently started to do portraits. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Indeed. I like flowers. ÉLISABETH I would prefer to do portraits, Majesty. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE My dear, I adore your complexion. And those lovely green eyes. ÉLISABETH They are blue, Majesty. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Ah. They seem so.... green. Ambiguity is truly - isn’t it? - the essence of beauty. All the better, Madame.

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Act One, scene 02 ÉLISABETH is in her studio and exhilarated. ÉLISABETH (calling) Jean Baptiste, Jean Baptiste.... JULIE LOUISE I am two years old. ÉLISABETH (calling) Jean Baptiste, please come and take Brunette. (normal) Where is he? I hadn’t realized that the King is such an attractive man. And so enthralling. Some women have all that fortune and fate can offer. Me, I must make do with Jean Baptiste.... (to JULIE) What are you doing? Stop that. (calling) Jean Baptiste.... Jean Baptiste.... (normal) Yes, the King’s poised and urbane head in silhouette - that’s exactly what I would like to do. (to JULIE) Stop it. JULIE LOUISE I want to paint my own portrait. ÉLISABETH She chuckles. Not now. Yes, the King in silhouette. JULIE LOUISE continues to fuss with the paints and brushes; this time disaster strikes. ÉLISABETH O you’ve dripped paint all over your dress. She groans. Its getting late. I must go to Versailles. (calling) Jean Baptiste.... (normal) Nevermind, She sighs you’ll have to come with me. Come come, quickly quickly. The Queen is about to give birth, and we must be there. JULIE LOUISE But my dress, Maman? ÉLISABETH No time. Quickly. Quickly. JULIE LOUISE We travel in the carriage. Rumbling rattling silence. The fumes of the wet paint make me sick. (to ÉLISABETH) Maman? ÉLISABETH (calling) Go faster. Faster. (to JULIE) The Comte de Calonne has commissioned me to do a portrait of the Comtesse de Cérès.

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JULIE LOUISE I don’t feel good, Maman. ÉLISABETH Can it be that he loves this woman, Brunette, can it? I find it hard to believe. She sighs. There is something so deceitful in her expression. Can you believe the ingratiating way she asked to borrow my carriage for an evening at the Théâtre de Bourgogne? As if I wouldn’t want to be there myself. What else could I do? - she is Calonne’s. I agree. She sighs. The next day, eleven noon one two three four o’clock, coachman horses carriage, nothing comes back. She has spent the night at Calonne’s magnificent hôtel particular and my coach waiting below. Now my reputation is stained - compromised - and with nothing in return. She weeps. Henceforth I will not see this Comtesse de Cérès, this perfidious creature, nor will I paint her portrait. She sighs. LONG PAUSE. Will the Comte understand, Brunette? Will he? (calling) Can you not go faster? Faster. Faster. My god, at last. ÉLISABETH bustles JULIE LOUISE JULIE LOUISE I am frightened by the milling crowds at the palace. So many people. They keep bumping against me. My Mother drags me to a large crowded room. ÉLISABETH She looks and gasps. You are a very very lucky little girl to be here. JULIE LOUISE I can’t see, Maman. She cries. ÉLISABETH Stop crying. Over here. Stay close. Pardon, excuse me, pardon.... JULIE LOUISE The smells of all these bodies makes me sicker still. I fall against someone’s legs. ÉLISABETH The Queen’s brother had said on more than one occasion that the King should be whipped as one does to donkeys to make him ejaculate. JULIE LOUISE She sobs. What’s ejaculate, Maman?

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ÉLISABETH What indeed? She looks and gasps. The King’s operation has obviously been a success. Well of course, the situation of the succession had reached a crises. She smirks. Some say it is the Comte de Calonne who has helped France once again. She lightly applauds. Ah, the birth.... She loudly applauds JULIE LOUISE Red. I see blood. I see.... She gags. ÉLISABETH Brunette, Brunette? What’s the matter? JULIE LOUISE vomits. ÉLISABETH Pardon pardon, we’re going home Brunette, excuse me, excuse me, pardon, excuse me, pardon, excuse me, excuse me, pardon....

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Act One, scene 03 ÉLISABETH works energetically in her studio. ÉLISABETH The King will be at the salon. A most attractive man, the King.... JULIE LOUISE What is it, Maman? O, its that.... O.... Its so ugly.... ÉLISABETH chuckles. JULIE LOUISE .... and swollen and red and....

She gags.

ÉLISABETH Its the Royal baby and heir to the throne. The King is the most desirable and superior of men. Would that I had been his wife instead of the wife of a lazy unscrupulous nothing.... JULIE LOUISE Papa? ÉLISABETH .... a drunken liar, a gambler, a.... a.... tradesman. The worst that can be had. JULIE LOUISE How can you say that about Papa? I love Papa (to JEAN BAPTISTE) Papa, I love you. ÉLISABETH (to JEAN BAPTISTE) So you have finally returned home, have you? Stinking of sweat and wine. Don’t kiss me. You are like the hounds, Jean Baptiste, the beggars in the street. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE And you dress like a whore. ÉLISABETH So now it is the Queen’s taste you insult? The Queen and I prefer simplicity above all. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Simplicity? Ha. I have myself seen you depicted naked and lewd on the canvases in the salons. ÉLISABETH What?

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JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Lespinasse? ÉLISABETH Her? She scoffs. I am an artist, not a bourgeoisie. The rest is meaningless and insipid and nothing. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Ha. You roam the salons when you should be here, taking care of your child. ÉLISABETH What about the child? JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE She is lost in her fantasies and lies. ÉLISABETH What a thing to say. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Can you not do something for her? Play with her? Love her? Poor Brunette, to have such a Mother. ÉLISABETH And such a Father. Why must you spoil all my pleasures? JULIE LOUISE My Mother doesn’t have a license to practice the profession. A dangerous thing. especially as my Mother has a rival, Adélaïde LabilleGuiard, a member of the prestigious Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. ÉLISABETH I hate her. I loathe her. JULIE LOUISE A rival who cannot stand her, despises her, my Mother. One night, cold late night, the officers of the Châtelet arrest my Mother. Maman, where are you going? Maman? Maman? Papa, where’s Maman? (narration) The long cold night. I see ice. I see someone – is it Mariane? – far far away. Our first elusive glimpse of MARIANE, a shadowy figure and then gone.

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JULIE LOUISE We wait and wait, Papa and I. It is very silent today in the Hotel de Lambert. Sky dark but light. PAUSE. I visit my Mother in prison. Wet dark cold. (to ÉLISABETH) When will you come home, Maman? When? ÉLISABETH (whispering) I don’t know. JULIE LOUISE Can I help you, Maman? Can I? I want to help you. Will you ever come home? ÉLISABETH sobs quietly. JULIE LOUISE I don’t like it here. ÉLISABETH takes JULIE LOUISE’s arm as if she is CALONNE. ÉLISABETH My dear Monsieur le Comte de Calonne. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It was unspeakable. My dear Comte, let me be frank now that I am free again: my goal is no less than to be admitted to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. But what must I do to be accepted by them? They will never accept me. Why? Because Adélaïde Labille-Guiard is a member and conspires against me. She scoffs. I do not want to have been known, my dearest Comte, when the dust has settled, as having been merely the painter of flowers. JULIE LOUISE The Académie Royale rejects her. ÉLISABETH (whispering) Shadows. No, no more. Shush. No more words. Shush. Shush. Shadows. (shouting) I hate her. Loathe her. ÉLISABETH slams the door. JULIE LOUISE She does not speak for days, the rooms dark and foreboding. (to ÉLISABETH) Maman? PAUSE. Maman? PAUSE. Maman? ÉLISABETH I see it all now. So clearly. The Académie will not have me because Jean Baptiste is an art dealer, a tradesman. They will regret this. I have spoken to the Comte de Calonne. He will speak to the Queen. The

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Queen will insist. (to ADÉLAÏDE) You, Madame Labille-Guiard, now have no choice but to accept me. JULIE LOUISE as ADÉLAÏDE You, Madame Vigée-LeBrun, are a plagiarist. ÉLISABETH You, Madame Labille-Guiard, dare to accuse me of such a thing? JULIE LOUISE as ADÉLAÏDE And copied something obscure, perhaps, Madame Vigée-LeBrun? Something not known here? ÉLISABETH The correct interpretation, Madame Labille-Guiard, is that I sought to imitate the Italian masters, Guido Remy, Cortona.... even Rainaldi, and can nothing be more legitimate for the artist? (to JEAN BAPTISTE) You see. Jean Baptiste? You see? I have told her off and good. Adélaïde LabilleGuiard? What does she know? JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Have you seen her magnificent portrait of her teacher, Augustin Pajou, modeling a bust of his teacher, Nicolas de Largillière. The King appreciates Adélaïde. She has a true artistic lineage. Adélaïde is talented, Élisabeth. Truth must be told. ÉLISABETH Just what I would expect from you. Take the other side. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE I love no one but you, my dear Élisabeth. ÉLISABETH I work hard and long and alone. Certainly you are never here. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE I am out where I should be: in the world. ÉLISABETH As for Adélaïde, she does nothing but conspire against me. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE You are becoming an embarrassment. ÉLISABETH As you have always been for me. I was once told it would be better to tie a stone around my neck and throw myself into the Seine than to marry you. I laughed. It was too late. JULIE LOUISE Why, Maman?

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ÉLISABETH We were already married. JULIE LOUISE My Mother’s first exhibition at the Salon de L’Académie Royale is an almost perfect success. ÉLISABETH Cursed luck; I am hung next to Adélaïde’s efforts. (to ADÉLAÏDE) Madame Labille-Guiard, viewing your.... dabble is quite instructive. It brings so vividly to mind the notion that oils must have the lightness of pastels, as yours surely do not. JULIE LOUISE as ADÉLAÏDE My dear Madame Vigée-LeBrun, it is more a question of comportment. ÉLISABETH Sensibility is more significant than comportment. As does the Queen, I prefer the more feminine qualities.... JULIE LOUISE as ADÉLAÏDE Yes yes yes, voluptuousness. It is what we have come to expect from you. ÉLISABETH I should be afraid if I were you, very afraid, to continue to spread such slander. (screaming) That woman. Adélaïde.... Labille.... Guiard. She is furious and inarticulate. I hate her. JULIE LOUISE Many lucrative commissions follow. The Comte de Calonne is a continuous advocate. It is my Mother’s independence he most admires. He is charming. She is charmed. ÉLISABETH My dear Count, I would be most grateful if you would tell me what you think of this portrait of the Royal baby. JULIE LOUISE The Comte is tall with a bright red shock of hair, giant overbearing eyebrows, dark severe eyes, a fleshy mobile sensual lewd gaping chasm of a mouth. I consider his face ghoulish. I see it in my nightmares just at the moment I awaken. I call him the Red Monster. ÉLISABETH (to CALONNE) Adélaïde, what does she know? But I know. O yes, I know. The play of shadows is the play of characters, precious one.

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None of this, of course, applies to the face which should always be as clear. Scintillating, shimmering. Poor man, you are tired. You work so hard for the good of France. Last night, at dinner you ate so voraciously. It was delightful. You must have been famished. She laughs. Indeed, my dearest darling. Your delicate masculine beauty fascinates me. I cannot take my eyes from you. JULIE LOUISE I see them kissing. I cannot stop looking. (to ÉLISABETH) Paint me, Maman, paint me.

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Act One, scene 04 ÉLISABETH (to ANTOINETTE) Your Majesty.... a commission to paint the Dauphin, Louis Joseph? I am so honoured. I love to paint children. She bows. And will there be others in the ensemble, Majesty? JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE They will pose with their governess. ÉLISABETH Their governess, I see. But not with you, Majesty? JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE No. I think not. ÉLISABETH Oh. In any event, I thank you, Majesty, for this faith in my meager abilities. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE It is I who thank you, Madame Vigée-Lebrun. It was, you know, our dear and faithful Comte de Calonne who suggested you for this commission. He admired the portrait you did just after the birth, and from memory.... Truly outstanding. ÉLISABETH (writing) Can it be true? O my darling Calonne, I crave to see you again. By way of appreciation for all you have done, my beloved, I will paint your portrait with all my artistry and heart. I could happily die if only to touch your handsome noble face one more time. I have missed you so. When will I see you again? ÉLISABETH looks at JULIE LOUISE for a long time, silent, then takes her gently to a large mirror. They look into it, together, side by side. ÉLISABETH You are a beautiful child. JULIE LOUISE Am I, Maman? ÉLISABETH My child. It is a special day. I will paint us together today. Mother and daughter. Like this. Hold your arm like this. No, like this. Like this.

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JULIE LOUISE lies on ÉLISABETH’s lap. ÉLISABETH Good. ÉLISABETH studies them in the mirror as she works. ÉLISABETH In painting, one must be focused. The palette must be lovingly prepared. JULIE LOUISE And then. Maman? ÉLISABETH Then one must leave the world behind. JULIE LOUISE Why? ÉLISABETH Yes, why.... JULIE LOUISE Why is it so red? ÉLISABETH Red.... She chuckles. JULIE LOUISE Maman, I’m tired. ÉLISABETH Brunette, stop it. You wanted to be painted. This is what its like. Now sit still until I’m finished. Keep your head still. JULIE LOUISE Maman, in the Salon this afternoon, Adélaïde LabilleGuiard.... ÉLISABETH Adélaïde? JULIE LOUISE .... was standing right behind me, the afternoon sun red upon your portrait of the Comte de Calonne. ÉLISABETH Who was she with? JULIE LOUISE A man I didn’t know.

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ÉLISABETH Hmmmm? What did they say? JULIE LOUISE He said that you had excessively cropped Calonne’s legs. JULIE LOUISE has difficulty holding the pose. ÉLISABETH Just a little longer, just a little longer. Good. JULIE LOUISE Adélaïde said: Is it so that he will not wander from her and be unfaithful? She also noticed that you didn’t crop the Comte de Calonne at the waist. ÉLISABETH She sighs. And then? JULIE LOUISE They laughed. ÉLISABETH They laughed? JULIE LOUISE Is it true? ÉLISABETH What? JULIE LOUISE That the Comte de Calonne misuses and abuses and exploits the public funds? He is, Adélaïde said.... ÉLISABETH Adélaïde.... JULIE LOUISE A minister of the government. ÉLISABETH scoffs. JULIE LOUISE The man said: With notoriety comes vulnerability. And she replied that with vulnerability comes danger. What’s vulnerability, Maman? ÉLISABETH gasps. JULIE LOUISE I hate the portrait of her and me. (whispering) And I loved it.

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ÉLISABETH (writing) My cherished dear beloved Calonne, we could be so happy together. But the world will not suffer our love. There is talk. They know. They all know. Everything. Were we indiscreet? What am I to do? I am so afraid. I need you now more than ever. Do not forsake me. I beseech you, my darling dear one, please do not forsake me. I await you alone in the shadows with my paints and canvas. JULIE LOUISE I am walking in the street with Papa. He talks with a man I have never seen before. And another. And another. Papa’s face becomes red. He doesn’t hear me now. We rush home. as JEAN BAPTISTE Calonne? With Calonne? ÉLISABETH I will not be interrupted when I am working, Jean Baptiste. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE How could you? And to think I have loved you. ÉLISABETH Love? What did you ever know of love? JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE You are a fool. ÉLISABETH I am an artist. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE The world will not suffer fools. The prisons are full of them. ÉLISABETH scoffs. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE And indiscreet. ÉLISABETH Hmmmm? JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Adélaïde Labille-Guiard has your letters. ÉLISABETH She snorts. Adélaïde, just saying her name makes me ill. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE The scandal will destroy my business.

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ÉLISABETH Business? You overestimate your own importance. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE Money received. And from where? From the public coffers. ÉLISABETH You dare to speak of money while you squander mine? JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE We could lose everything. The Hotel de Lambert.... ÉLISABETH Then it’ll be for me to save us all, once again. Me. JULIE LOUISE as JEAN BAPTISTE I see nothing but shadows and sadness for us. ÉLISABETH Us? Us? You speak of us? There is no us. No. No more.

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Act One, scene 05 JULIE LOUISE I miss Papa. The Red Monster is now at the Hotel de Lambert all the time. One afternoon, I come across him in the corridor upstairs. (to CALONNE) Will you be dining with us again today, Monsieur le Comte? But I am eight years old, and no one calls me Brunette, Monsieur le Comte. It is not a name I have ever cared for. Ah, then you have been misled, Monsieur, in this and many other things. (narration) On those nights, the Hotel de Lambert is filled with moans and cries, shouts and pleasures as they never were when Papa was here. I dream of blood and ice. (whispering) I peek at them from the shadows. I see.... I see them.... touching. ÉLISABETH (whispering to CALONNE) Jean Baptiste was a burden to me. I’m sure it will be better with you now that we are together. You are so good for me as a woman and an artist, as I hope I I will be for you.... She laughs. No no, silly, as a man and a leader of the nation.... What? An official commission for a portrait of the Queen. Can this be true? It is my wildest dream. O thank you thank you thank you, my dearest loved sweet one. I will make it a grand hymn to filial piety. The Queen as the Mother to the people of France.... What? What? But but.... I don’t understand.... Why?.... O? Yes I’ve heard that malicious gossip, but who cares? O? The King doesn’t want us to be together? The King? O?.... But I thought the King admired me.... O.... She sobs.

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Act One, scene 06 JULIE LOUISE Despite her success - all Paris is now entranced by my Mother - the rooms at the Hotel de Lambert are again dark. The Red Monster is nowhere to be seen. My Mother suffers a miscarriage. There is blood. ÉLISABETH gazes at herself in the mirror; suddenly she turns away. ÉLISABETH My face is so indistinct. Why? Am I not worthy of love? JULIE LOUISE Will Papa come back now? ÉLISABETH And where is my darling Calonne, whose caresses I live for? I am desperate, Brunette. JULIE LOUISE We visit a fortune-teller, whose husband lies dying in the other room. A shiver of horror to the proceedings. ÉLISABETH (to FORTUNE-TELLER) You can foretell the future. Will you help me? JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER Yes yes, of course. But what I am about to tell you is.... a secret. A deep and profound secret. The truth that no mortal may hear. A privilege - therefore - my dear beautiful delicious Madame. ÉLISABETH I am ready. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER I alone can do this for you. The rest are charlatans. I sense you are feeling.... confused. ÉLISABETH The reflection of my face is a blur and.... JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER This man you love?.... ÉLISABETH Calonne? Does he love me?

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JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER He loves you truly. He will make a fortune and marry you. ÉLISABETH Impossible. I am already married. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER Death waits for all. You will be rich and famous. All men will desire you. I am never wrong. ÉLISABETH I want to know more. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER What more can there be? ÉLISABETH What more? What more? I want to be a great artist. JULIE LOUISE We visit the Freemasons; their lodge is decorated with pictures of the flaming star and the sacred spirit level. It smells dank and musty. We are assured that their credo of secrecy delivers them a binding force from the raging sea. The Freemason stutters that to betray these secrets is to risk having your throat cut, your tongue torn out, and your heart rent asunder. He tells us that in order to demonstrate true faith, an initiate.... JULIE LOUISE & ÉLISABETH .... must kiss the derriere of a dog. JULIE LOUISE My Mother does not join the Freemasons. She continues to look elsewhere for consolation. ÉLISABETH Shadows? Edges? Why is this? Where is my hope and dreams? I deserve so much more. It is what my poor dear Father told me. She cries. I have been forsaken by him. There are no edges. Only shadows. Who will help me? Who will love me? JULIE LOUISE I love you, Maman. I’ll help you. ÉLISABETH People, Brunette, are now beginning to speak of trances and possession and animal magnetism. Apparently, after having visited this Mesmer, many now desperate and possessed, throw themselves into the Seine. Come, I have decided: we will visit this Mesmer and his .... seance....

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JULIE LOUISE We promenade to the rue Montmartre. We enter the first room which is filled to bursting with the many adherents of animal magnetism. They are all holding hands to form a long chain. ÉLISABETH Maybe I should join the circle, she gasps but look at them, oozing from every pore. Come, Brunette, we’ll go to the next room. JULIE LOUISE Many of the Mesmerites touch us with little iron baguettes which I find wonderfully important. ÉLISABETH Most irritating. JULIE LOUISE The walls are covered with mirrors. Music fills the air. In the center is a large oval vessel, saturated with a special magnetized water. The vessel is pierced with many iron branches, which are to be applied to the distressed part of the body. So gentle. Gradually people begin to have fits. Some sob and tear their hair, others laugh till they cry, shrieking and screaming till they become unconscious. Suddenly Mesmer appears, dressed in a long lilac silk robe embroidered with gold flowers. A flower I have never seen. He touches us all with his wand on our spine and eyebrows. More convulsions, jerking of limbs, twitching, rolling of eyes, moans, weeping, hiccoughs, uncontrollable laughter. I too begin to laugh. It is all so funny and lovely. She begins to twitch. ÉLISABETH I have had enough of this charlatan's tricks. Why, may I ask, does no one else seem to notice this? Can they all be so stupid? This is a horror. Brunette, we’re going.... JULIE LOUISE Mesmer takes my hand. She laughs. Waves. I am the ice. Warm hand. I am the heroine of the cold. I am the path of snow and dancing glaciers. JULIE LOUIS laughs and become possessed. JULIE LOUISE as MESMER This young person requires my undivided attention, my universal love.

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ÉLISABETH What are you saying? JULIE LOUISE as MESMER Pride and ambition are the vilest passions of the human mind. Forget all previous knowledge. ÉLISABETH But?.... JULIE LOUISE as MESMER Remove from your mind all objections as they occur. Animal magnetism delivers our soul from the debasing trammels of the flesh, setting time at defiance, and conquering the obstructions of space itself. ÉLISABETH I don’t understand.... JULIE LOUISE as MESMER When in trance, we have supernatural powers. This young person is now inspired and knows all. ÉLISABETH Brunette? JULIE LOUISE as MESMER When the animal magnetism - a blessing from our Creator - which now flows throughout her has cascaded, she will know and tell us the wisdom of the ages. as HERSELF I become strangely happy. I savor it. A flower I have never seen. (to MESMER) I am Jeanne Julie Louise LeBrun, though you, sir, may call me Julie Louise. JULIE LOUISE as MESMER And I am Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer. And you may call me Anton. You are an authentic oracle of truth, my dear Julie Louise. So delightful. You must always - from this moment on - speak the truth, child. Promise me. Promise me. as HERSELF I promise. as MESMER Good. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, child. Fear not, my dear Julie Louise, we will meet again and soon. JULIE LOUISE sings. ÉLISABETH Brunette?

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Act One, scene 07 ÉLISABETH Brunette, Brunette.... JULIE LOUISE I no longer approve of the name Brunette. ÉLISABETH Please. I have no time for this. JULIE LOUISE It is the first sitting of the Queen’s portrait. Unexpectedly, the King is present. My Mother is so nervous. Shaking, trembling. I have never seen her like this before. ÉLISABETH (stammering) What, Monsieur Le Majesty? What? Forgive me, I didn’t hear. The noise. The shadows. The child. ÉLISABETH knocks over her paints. JULIE LOUISE My Mother is very embarrassed. Her ears turn red. ÉLISABETH Forgive my clumsiness, Monsieur Le Majesty. JULIE LOUISE The King does not stay long. ÉLISABETH Did I offend him, Madame La Majesty? I am mortified to think that I might have. O my life.... She sobs. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Now now, my dear, Louis’ always like that. He’s just a big old bear. He hates everything except clocks, you know. She helps to pick up the paints. Let me help you with that, Liebling. She laughs. Its so tiresome here at Versailles. Do you know what I will do? ÉLISABETH What, Majesty? JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE I will build a little Austrian village, over there behind the Trianon. There my friends and I can picnic and dance, away, far away, from boring old Versailles. I tell you I abhor this she scoffs etiquette here at the palace. And then there is the politics. They never stop talking about the unrest. I hope you will able to join us in our little village of

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tranquility, Madame Vigée-LeBrun. We are the same age you know. We could be sisters, you and I. ÉLISABETH Sisters, Majesty? JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE She laughs. People think that it is easy to play the Queen, but they are wrong. I tell you, it all causes me great distress. My monthly time is often early. I have seen that charming portrait you did of you and your daughter. Children can be such a blessing. as HERSELF My Mother paints another portrait of her and me. She is wearing a turban of her own creation. I am draped over her lap. ÉLISABETH It is a hymn to maternal love. It shows how much I love you and how much you love me as your Mother. JULIE LOUISE I love you, Maman. ÉLISABETH It is the lineage of the female, Brunette. Don’t fidget so. JULIE LOUISE I hate this. Paint the Queen instead. ÉLISABETH Are you jealous? JULIE LOUISE I’m not jealous. She sobs. ÉLISABETH I believe you are. I am so sorry my darling. Come here.... There there, little one. There there. ÉLISABETH hugs JULIE LOUISE. JULIE LOUISE She now brushes my hair every night, a hundred stokes, and we tell each other a million tiny wonderful things. ÉLISABETH The birds and flowers all love to dance with each other. JULIE LOUISE Do they sing too? ÉLISABETH Beautiful beautiful wonderful love songs.

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JULIE LOUISE PAUSE. What is love, Maman? With men? ÉLISABETH sobs. ÉLISABETH I wish I knew.

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Act One, scene 08 ÉLISABETH Massive massive acclaim. The portraits of Marie Antoinette, the Marquise de Pezay, the Marquise de Rougé and her sons, the Comtesse de Béon, Madame de la Grange, the actress Dugazon in the role of Nina, the actress Molé Raymond in the role of Phèdre, the actor Joseph Caillot in the role of Macbeth, the self portrait of me and Brunette. JULIE LOUISE As my Mother has become so famous - she now regularly shows at the Salon de L’Académie Royale - a young painter, Mairie Victoire Lemoine, comes looking for employment. Mairie Victoire is so cloying, so encouraging, so caring, so discrete, so demure, so considerate, so sensitive, so.... nice to me. I cannot bear her. ÉLISABETH (to MAIRIE VICTOIRE) So, Mademoiselle, you say that you are an admirer of my work? JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE With all my soul and being. ÉLISABETH I see. Please sit down. This is my daughter, Brunette. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE What a darling little child you are. Ah, Madame Vigée-Lebrun, I have painted a portrait of myself as your student. MAIRIE VICTOIRE shows ÉLISABETH a large canvas. ÉLISABETH Its me. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE As you work at the easel, I am the priestess, kneeling before you, offering to the effigy of Athene the goddess of wisdom. ÉLISABETH This is .... incredible. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE May I copy your works? It is how you taught yourself, is it not?

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ÉLISABETH It is how I met my husband, for he is an art dealer with a vast stock. No longer for he is bankrupt. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE What a pity. ÉLISABETH Yes, well, he is merely a tradesman. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE O?.... ÉLISABETH And because of that, I tell you, that if the Queen herself had not insisted, I would still not be a member of the Académie. And now because of it, because of her generosity, I am shunned in the art world. Shunned. It is all my husband’s fault, of course. Thanks to him, I now have no allies at all. Nobody. I am alone. The Comte de Calonne was thoughtful and kind, poor man.... JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE I have heard your’s and his was a great love, was it not? ÉLISABETH I don’t know. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE And now the King is furious with him, shouting that Monsieur de Calonne’s imprudence has put the government into disrepute and bled France dry. ÉLISABETH She sobs. Can that be true? I am so unlucky in the men I love. Cursed. And I am now alone. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE Madame, could I not help you? Be your bridge to Adélaïde Labille-Guiard? ÉLISABETH Her? JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE Great artists should be allies. ÉLISABETH Presumptuous. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE That is what I wish to do for you.

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ÉLISABETH I will not consider teaching you until you show the proper respect. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE But Madame, I do do admire you so so much. I want nothing more than your love. I want to help you in all ways. How I wish I was your daughter, Madame. I want to bask in the glory of your radiance. ÉLISABETH Well.... perhaps we should start again? Come. You can help me prepare my souper grec.

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Act One, scene 09 JULIE LOUISE I am twelve. There are riots for food now. The shouting in the city never stops. My Mother’s souper grec is excitedly anticipated as one of the exceptional events of the reign. Many are there. Many are not. Of course, my Mesmer is not invited. If I could dream, I would dream of him. It is beyond what I can say. Of course, the Red Monster is not there either: it is said he lives in dread of the starving Mob who roams the streets shouting his name. Of course, Papa is also not invited. I never see Papa now. I eat only salad only bitter. During the fish course, I stand on the table. (shouting) Chaos violence death in the streets. (normal) The babble stops. And then the Queen arrives. ÉLISABETH (to ANTOINETTE) O Majesty, I am so honoured. Please sit here at the head of the table. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE But no, I shall sit here with you. ÉLISABETH We were saying, Your Majesty, that what is legal is at the discretion of the King. This is the right of Kings and Kings alone. Is that not correct, Your Majesty? JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Yes yes, but it is all falling down. The wheat harvest is ruined and there is no bread. Already a piteous Mob of women has descended upon us. Louis was so greatly moved by their cries that all the food in Versailles was collected and given to them. But was it enough? Can you tell me this? An act of tenderness?! Louis’ generosity enraged them and they stormed the kitchens. And destroyed my bedroom. My bedroom. ÉLISABETH gasps. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Did you hear that most of the Guards died at their posts? Thrown from the windows, impaled on pikes, obscenely mutilated. Horrible. ÉLISABETH Horrible.

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JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE But Louis will not fight back. He will not shed the blood of his people. She sighs. It is a pity about the Comte de Calonne. In the old days, he was so useful. ÉLISABETH In the old days.... JULIE LOUISE jumps up, pointing. JULIE LOUISE Flames. The Red Monster is being burned in effigy. She goes to the window. Flames. His body is fire. His face a giant tongue of red fire. Red. Red. Red. She laughs.

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Act One, scene 10 JULIE LOUISE I hear a voice in the wind of my dreams. With it I write the beginning of a story and I am so proud of it. I call it: MARIANE appears. MARIANE & JULIE LOUISE To Be Always Loved JULIE LOUISE .... and it is a tale of nobility and sensitivity. Prince Rosolato, he of the radiant sun, falls in love at first sight with Mariane - She gestures to MARIANE - a beautiful young woman. I thought she should be walking by the river, at this point, as the summer sun sets. Do you agree? MARIANE nods JULIE LOUISE Good. It seems to me to be so.... right that love happens in the sunshine. Prince Rosolato dotes upon Mariane, and adores her beyond the idea of everything that is human. That’s what love is like, isn’t it? MARIANE shrugs. JULIE LOUISE O? She sighs. Mariane is virtuous. She spurns his advances. MARIANE How can I marry above my rank and station? Leave me, leave me to mourn this tragic loss for the rest of my life. JULIE LOUISE as PRINCE ROSOLATO I must have you. as HERSELF Do men say that, dear Mariane? Do they? MARIANE shakes her head. JULIE LOUISE O? Prince Rosolato falls into a swoon: as PRINCE ROSOLATO No words, Mariane, are too strong for my sentiments and love. Your face is forever gravé dans mon coeur. MARIANE I can never act so base a part as to encourage such warm declarations.

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JULIE LOUISE as PRINCE ROSOLATO Mariane, you are a flower I have never seen. as HERSELF But what happens now? What do they do next? Will it end badly? MARIANE frowns. JULIE LOUISE Will it be a salad seasoned only with the unkind biting corrosive bitter biting bitter unkind bitter juice of lemons? MARIANE nods. JULIE LOUISE O?.... JULIE LOUISE puts her hand to her face.

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Act One, scene 11 ÉLISABETH You would not believe Versailles, Brunette. Most of the court has fled. Cowards. The great palace is empty. Footsteps echoing in the silence. The Queen weeps all the time. She can do nothing for me. My professional reputation is in tatters. Finished. JULIE LOUISE Where is the King? ÉLISABETH The King is grieving and nowhere to be seen. We hear loud crashes offstage. JULIE LOUISE They’re throwing stones at our house. We cannot stay here any longer, Mother. ÉLISABETH But where can we go? There is no one left. And all my treasures.... JULIE LOUISE We must leave everything.... ÉLISABETH All my beautiful things. JULIE LOUISE Our home is confiscated by Robespierre and his Committee For Public Safety. We seek refuge where ever we can. ÉLISABETH stands distractedly at the easel. ÉLISABETH The King and Queen have been captured in the town of Varennes. Like criminals. And all my beautiful things.... gone. Why? JULIE LOUISE This is not the time for this, Mother. ÉLISABETH What else can I do? JULIE LOUISE The smell in the air is blood. They have installed a guillotine in the Place de la Révolution. The blade falling, racing. The executioner is called Monsieur de Paris.

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ÉLISABETH His prisoners are brought to him sixty at a time JULIE LOUISE Each poor soul, with amazing dispatch, is lifted up the stairs to the scaffold and thrown, in an instant, upon the wooden plank. Their poor blood soaks the stones of the square. A terrible poison vapor rises from it. ÉLISABETH A terrible poison vapor. JULIE LOUISE Madame DuBarry is carried up to the scaffold. She screams, she begs, as Monsieur de Paris hastens to do his job. ÉLISABETH When his turn comes, the King she sobs the King pushes away his guards, and removes his own hat and coat. His own hat and coat. Opens his collar. JULIE LOUISE Loud drums. ÉLISABETH Weeping, the King speaks to the crowd: People of France, I die innocent, innocent of all crimes laid to my charge. I pray to God she weeps that that that the (stuttering) blood you are now going to shed may never be visited again upon France, and that you, my my unfortunate people, shall.... JULIE LOUISE Loud drums drown out his words. On the plank. Tipped. The neck clamp. The blade cutting slowly through his thick neck. The King screams. His head is seized and shown to the people. An awful silence. ÉLISABETH The King screams. JULIE LOUISE An awful silence.

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Act One, scene 12 ÉLISABETH (writing) My precious Calonne, it is the end of the world. I must see you before all is lost. I must see you, I must see you. I am nothing without you. I fear this emptiness more than anything. Even death. Even death at your hand. Even death at your hand even if you don’t care. There is nothing else left. You must love me again. Please.... (to MAIRIE VICTOIRE) Mairie Victoire, I have an urgent message. Please deliver it at once. Please. You have my permission to insist upon an answer. JULIE LOUISE Mairie Victoire returns with the red dawn. ÉLISABETH What did he say? JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE I’m so sorry, Madame. The Comte de Calonne sent no reply. ÉLISABETH No reply? None? JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE I am sorry, Madame. I am so so sorry. ÉLISABETH What happened? I want to know exactly what happened. JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE I gave the Comte de Calonne a portrait of you.... ÉLISABETH You did what? JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE I painted you from memory. It was a gift.... a gift from you. ÉLISABETH A portrait of me? JULIE LOUISE as MAIRIE VICTOIRE Monsieur le Comte She giggles was very pleased and most effusive. She giggles. He thanked me very very very warmly. ÉLISABETH (screaming) No....

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JULIE LOUISE Papa is in the prison at Port-Libre. I worry for months and months. JULIE LOUISE sings JULIE LOUISE I weep when he is released. (to JEAN BAPTISTE) I love you, Papa. I love you. I love you. I was so worried, Papa. I was afraid I would never see you again. I don’t want to leave you ever ever again. as JEAN BAPTISTE I love you. You are everything to me, Brunette. Everything. He hacks. I would give you some money but I don’t have any. I had to give everything for my release. Bad. He hacks. JULIE LOUISE Where is my Mesmer? (calling) Franz Friedrich Anton. MESMER (MARIANE) appears. JULIE LOUISE Anton, the mob is demanding to know which side you are on. You must tell them. They need to know what you think. As do I. Will they make you leave France? I should miss you so much if they did. You should approach the Queen. She will champion you, I am quite sure of it. She will give you a lovely chateau with many gardens far far away from here. MARIANE as MESMER And you will come to stay with me there, Julie Louise. JULIE LOUISE O thank you thank you. I am so grateful. MARIANE as MESMER You are a darling sweet person. But you must keep a vigil among the stars in the night of time. JULIE LOUISE Yes, I will henceforth act with simplicity and attention. MARIANE as MESMER But will you be happy? JULIE LOUISE How can I be happy, Anton? Papa is never here anymore. MARIANE as MESMER He lives in your heart where all good things dwell.

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JULIE LOUISE I understand. As you, Anton, always will. MARIANE as MESMER Yes. JULIE LOUISE Do you promise? Promise me. Always? Always? MARIANE as MESMER Always. JULIE LOUISE I hear your voice in the wind. (whispering) I do not despair. I walk in your shadow. My dreams are your breath.

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Act One, scene 13 ÉLISABETH Throughout her trial, the Queen commands respect. On the day she dies, Antoinette puts extra rouge on her cheeks.... JULIE LOUISE Why? ÉLISABETH So that she will not look afraid. She sobs. She has to squat in a corner to relieve herself. And taken in an open tumbril where she is made to sit facing backwards, jeered and ridiculed by the Mob. The journey takes.... hours. Through it all, Antoinette sits erect and unflinching. At the guillotine, she steps on Monsieur de Paris’ foot by mistake. JULIE LOUISE as ANTOINETTE Monsieur, I beg your pardon. I did not do it on purpose. That I should be fated to spend my days in such an age, and with such men. I no longer wish anything but to die. Nature, open your arms, God of justice, receive me. The idea of being separated from my child is my greatest regret in dying. Forgive my son. Let him know that to the very last he was in my heart. ÉLISABETH cries. JULIE LOUISE My Mother lies in a darkened room with a cloth over her face. ÉLISABETH The Queen is dead. PAUSE. I should go somewhere. Rome? They would appreciate me in Rome. JULIE LOUISE Opposite us in the carriage is a filthy mad Jacobin, ugly, with a bilious complexion, ugly and stinking of the plague. MARIANE as FILTHY MAD JACOBIN I am a thief and a patriot. A patriotic thief. He laughs. I take watches. He laughs. Do you have any watches? He laughs. I have strung up noble people like you on lampposts after first taking their watches. He laughs. Very useful, lampposts. Very useful. He laughs. Paris is burning. Paris is burning. Paris is burning. He laughs.

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JULIE LOUISE Later he is gone and we are alone. His smell lingers in the coach. We reach the border. The soldiers are drunk and ignore us. We go into exile as we cross the Beauvoisin Bridge into Switzerland. MARIANE is far away. She and JULIE LOUISE wave at each other. ÉLISABETH We have left France behind. JULIE LOUISE We have left Papa behind. end of act

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Act Two, scene 01 JULIE LOUISE Fast, all fast, a dull colourless blur. Torino. Shadows in the dusk. Milano. I dream of blood. I am terrified to sleep. Sienna. While we wait in anticipation with many many others in a large palazzo, I steal a small unimportant silver dish and in the hot afternoon sell it in the cringing shadows. ÉLISABETH What am I do do, Brunette? What am I to do? Tell me. Tell me. JULIE LOUISE I cannot. ÉLISABETH Such indifference. JULIE LOUISE Who? Me? ÉLISABETH They and them, the both. I who painted the Queen of France.... I’m so hungry. So hungry. JULIE LOUISE Desperate in Pisa, I steal money, just a few poor coins, from a small church. Someone comes. I run into the blazing sun of the piazza, my heart pounding. We arrive in Rome, and find small rooms in the Villa Medici near the Spanish Steps. My Mother, exhausted by disappointment and hunger, moans as she sleeps. By the river, I kill a rat. She gags. JULIE LOUISE cooks. ÉLISABETH sleeps fitfully; soon, the tantalizing smell wakes her. ÉLISABETH Hmmmm? That smells so brilliant. Vibrant. Is it food? Food? Pâté? Where did you get it? JULIE LOUISE A gift. ÉLISABETH A gift? Who gives us gifts? Ummm, this is delicious. I dreamt I was dead. And I danced wit Antoinette. I don’t remember if I had a head? It wasn’t clear. You look horrible. Eat some of this.

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JULIE LOUISE gags and shakes her head. JULIE LOUISE You must find work. ÉLISABETH O Brunette, what good would it do? I have no paint. JULIE LOUISE Here’s paint. ÉLISABETH Old and caked and this mealy brush. JULIE LOUISE forces the brush into ÉLISABETH’s hand. JULIE LOUISE Paint a portrait for bread. ÉLISABETH A portrait for bread? A portrait just for bread? I who painted the Queen. Poor woman poor woman, her face before me still. JULIE LOUISE Paint me, Mother. ÉLISABETH A portrait of you? JULIE LOUISE A portrait of me. ÉLISABETH looks at JULIE LOUISE. ÉLISABETH You do have one of the sweetest faces to be seen anywhere.... JULIE LOUISE Just paint, Mother, please..... ÉLISABETH Yes.... I know what to do.... a portrait of an heroic young citizen on barricades. JULIE LOUISE Not the blood, Mother. ÉLISABETH Don’t be silly. Everyone's interested. I will call it: Brunette heeds the call of liberty. Ah, this is good. This is good. I am enraptured when I paint you. Again, enraptured. She sighs. I’ve missed it so. This is terrible paint.

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JULIE LOUISE Can you not work faster, Mother? Late at night. JULIE LOUISE sleeps. ÉLISABETH unrolls the painting, pouring over it with a stub of a candle. JULIE LOUISE wakes and watches her. ÉLISABETH This is magnificent, this one. I will copy it and send it to Paris. JULIE LOUISE Paris? ÉLISABETH Mairie Victoire will see to it. I can give them their imbecilic revolution if that is what they want. PAUSE. This is the best work I have ever done. Simply the best. JULIE LOUISE scoffs. ÉLISABETH sharply looks up. ÉLISABETH Simply the best. This blistering scarlet drapery gives me such joy. Come let us make another copy. JULIE LOUISE O, Mother, I’m tired. ÉLISABETH Sush sush sush. JULIE LOUISE is posed as Mademoiselle La Liberté. JULIE LOUISE I can’t. I just.... can’t. ÉLISABETH It was your idea. The more I paint, the more we eat. JULIE LOUISE The Pope commissions a portrait of me and is very pleased with it. He introduces my Mother to the Duc de Medici. The Duc - in his turn - is very pleased with his copy of my portrait. My Mother is now invited to all the great Roman palazzi. Everyone is so very interested in the revolution. If only they knew.... I stay in our rooms and keep track of the many commissions.

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We hear a loud noise from the street below; JULIE LOUISE is startled. ÉLISABETH Come to the Palazzo Barberini, Brunette. Come and have a glass of champagne with us. JULIE LOUISE No, Mother. ÉLISABETH They all want to meet the young revolutionary heroine. JULIE LOUISE You are pathetic. ÉLISABETH And more copies to be sold?.... JULIE LOUISE stands in the doorway and scoffs. ÉLISABETH (speaking) Consider how I have been treated in France. My name, put on the list of émigrés. My rights as a French citizen, taken from me. And all my property - gone - the Hotel de Lambert. I who painted Marie Antoinette.... The stories from France are appalling. A woman killed with a pike because she refuses to denounce her friends. Her still beating heart eaten. Tell them your story about the guillotine, Brunette. You do it so well. JULIE LOUISE vomits.

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Act Two, scene 02 JULIE LOUISE is holding a letter. JULIE LOUISE O Papa.... how did you find me? She sings a snatch of melody. I hold Papa’s letter close to my heart for hours. It is the text of his speech to the Revolutionary Assembly pleading for my Mother. (reads) Gentlemen, I can no longer sit back and accept the violent slander directed towards Citizen LeBrun, to this justly celebrated artist whose works reflect a deeply human spirit, so perfect in their genre. I plead with you: let my wife be counted among the artists traveling abroad in order to perfect their talent. She works, even now, ceaselessly, in the creation of artistic magnificence. The stream of finished and impressive works from her atelier speaks volumes against this rabble, these envious detractors, these inept critics who would destroy her. Our daughter, Julie Louise, is traveling with her. (to ÉLISABETH) Let’s go back to Paris, Mother. Let’s go back to Paris. I miss Papa so. ÉLISABETH You are naive. JULIE LOUISE Why? ÉLISABETH I too have received a letter from France. Your Father has sued for divorce. JULIE LOUISE A divorce? ÉLISABETH Apparently, he has to protect his property. JULIE LOUISE But that’s.... reasonable. ÉLISABETH His property? My property. The Hotel de Lambert. JULIE LOUISE And what are his grounds? ÉLISABETH Desertion.

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JULIE LOUISE And are we there? Are we? Papa cares. Papa really cares. He’s fighting for you. Seeking justice for you. In his speech to the Revolutionary Assembly he says that.... ÉLISABETH Let me see it. JULIE LOUISE No. ÉLISABETH This is just a ploy of Jean Baptiste’s. It will all mean nothing but even less for me. JULIE LOUISE That’s so unkind. Papa has always loved you. ÉLISABETH Your Father - who once I loved - is now Robespierre’s ControllerGeneral. Do you understand what that means? Do you? JULIE LOUISE No. ÉLISABETH He is responsible for selling off the property of the émigrés.... the property of people like us. He is one of them. JULIE LOUISE is silent. ÉLISABETH The roads have been broken behind us, Brunette. Your father is not the man you had thought, hoped, he was. Where are you going? JULIE LOUISE runs off. ÉLISABETH (calling) Where are you going?

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Act Two, scene 03 JULIE LOUISE In a leather satchel in a wooden chest in a crypt deep in the cellars with the shadows and spiders and rats, I find my novel: To Be Always Loved. A universe of one with many names, all of them silent. Who put it here? I see Mariane hurrying down a long terrifying flight of stairs. (calling) Mariane.... Mariane.... MARIANE flits by in the shadows. JULIE LOUISE She will not wait for me. I am alone. Later, in a field of wind and wildflowers, scarlet and crimson and red, I read my novel. Memories flood my heart. She wails. I now see that Mariane can resist Prince Rosolato’s ardor no longer. Weeping with joy, she says to him.... JULIE LOUISE looks about her - she is waiting for Mariane to join her. JULIE LOUISE Mariane says to him: I will marry you. I will be your wife. That’s what she should say, isn’t it, Anton? I wish you were here, Anton. I don’t know what to do. And now her Mother, Hélène –– who Mariane spends so much time caring for and helping –– Hélène disagrees: Prince Rosolato is indelicate, and wicked to take such advantage of you. Hélène confronts Prince Rosolato. She gasps. Why? Why would Hélène do such a thing, Anton? Will this be a sad story? Will it? (whispering) Anton Anton, I cannot dream. Mariane won’t wait for me. I cannot dream.

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Act Two, scene 04 ÉLISABETH and JULIE LOUISE ride in a sleigh. JULIE LOUISE I see the breathe of the horses as we rumble through the icy steppes. The wind blowing from the darkest north, dancing. An unfamiliar rapture a quiet rage. The Winter Pines that line our journey invite silence. I am floating, a frozen bird. I am hunger. Cold and white. Cold and white. My only solace. (whispering) Anton.... Anton.... Anton.... MARIANE as MESMER Keep a vigil among the stars in the night of time, my dearest Julie Louise. JULIE LOUISE Anton. I have missed you so. A flower I have never seen. MARIANE as MESMER I hold you close to me, sweetest Julie. JULIE LOUISE Then I am less afraid of being truly loved. MARIANE as MESMER It is as it always was and should. JULIE LOUISE But what can it mean? MARIANE as MESMER Of course, it is the magnetism of the animal body. JULIE LOUISE Yes, Anton. MARIANE as MESMER What’s happened in the novel? JULIE LOUISE Prince Rosolato has taken Hélène, Mariane’s Mother, as his mistress. Mariane is forgotten. It worries me. MARIANE as MESMER Me too. What does Mariane do? JULIE LOUISE Alone, Mariane weeps and weeps and drowns herself in a pool of her own tears. MARIANE as MESMER O, dear.... And what of body and the universal love?

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JULIE LOUISE Body and the universal love? MARIANE as MESMER It is what we all yearn for. JULIE LOUISE Do we? MARIANE as MESMER Of course. JULIE LOUISE Yes, you are right, Anton. As always, Anton. I know.... MARIANE as MESMER What, child? JULIE LOUISE I will change my novel - make it new, better. MARIANE as MESMER Yes. JULIE LOUISE I will henceforth call it simply, La Mariane. Mariane, a heroine of the cold. Mariane, a heroine of the light. Mariane, a seeker of redemption. MARIANE as MESMER Excellent excellent. JULIE LOUISE This time, Mariane will not sorrow herself into oblivion. MARIANE as MESMER Good. I like it already. JULIE LOUISE I dream that I am writing my novel. Hélène has visited Prince Rosolato who is captivated by her radiance. With all his heart, he says to Hélène: as PRINCE ROSOLATO You are the beauty in your family. You are truly the light of the universe. You and you alone are the woman for me. The woman, the woman I will revere to the end of time. as HERSELF Prince Rosolato takes Hélène, Mariane’s Mother, as his mistress. They are so preoccupied and do not see Mariane who now rides with us, silent as the snow. But I do.... MARIANE flies, to land gently next to JULIE LOUISE.

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ÉLISABETH We’ll be there tomorrow. First thing: we’ll be presented to the court; the Grand Duke himself will take us in. Tsarina Catherine is the most powerful woman in the world. You must treat her with extreme deference, Brunette. I am the court painter - I have a position to uphold. The Tsarina will doubtlessly ignore you anyway. O yes, and avoid any contact with her nephew, Paul. Apparently he is mad.... JULIE LOUISE Tsarina Catherine is so beautiful that I forget to kiss her hand. A kindly face, her white hair framing it to perfection. Her eyes, soft and loving, her voice, gentle and thick. JULIE LOUISE approaches CATHERINE (MARIANE), who hugs her. MARIANE as CATHERINE Such beautiful blue eyes, child. JULIE LOUISE They are green, Tsarina. MARIANE as CATHERINE She laughs uproariously. You must spend Christmas with us. JULIE LOUISE Just me? MARIANE as CATHERINE No, child, you and your mother. JULIE LOUISE And Paul? MARIANE as CATHERINE She laughs uproariously. Yes, and Paul. JULIE LOUISE And Mariane? MARIANE as CATHERINE Whomever you wish. You will be happy here, child. The Russian winter is beautiful. CATHERINE gives JULIE LOUISE a tiara.

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MARIANE as CATHERINE You will look beautiful, as beautiful as the winter wind. JULIE LOUISE Will I be a heroine of the cold? MARIANE as CATHERINE She laughs uproariously. Who can say? Perhaps.... JULIE LOUISE Thank you, o thank you thank you thank you so so much. CATHERINE and JULIE LOUISE hug.

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Act Two, scene 05 JULIE LOUISE and MARIANE are having a tea party. JULIE LOUISE wears her tiara. ÉLISABETH (offstage) Brunette.... Brunette.... JULIE LOUISE What does she want now? MARIANE I hope she can’t find us. JULIE LOUISE She never never can. Anyway.... (mimics ÉLISABETH) I have no time for this. They laugh. MARIANE Tsarina Catherine is so nice. JULIE LOUISE I know. I love her so. MARIANE And she loves you. JULIE LOUISE Does she? MARIANE nods JULIE LOUISE Sometimes she and I have dinner with her nephew, Paul. MARIANE O him - he’s so.... I heard he eats only borscht. JULIE LOUISE Its true. They laugh. ÉLISABETH (offstage) Brunette.... Brunette.... MARIANE She’s closer.

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JULIE LOUISE Tsarina Catherine is teaching me Russian. MARIANE as CATHERINE Dobroe utro, Julie Louise. JULIE LOUISE Good morning, Tsarina. Pyat, shes, sem, vosem, devyat. MARIANE as CATHERINE Very good, child. Soon I will teach you to count beyond nine. JULIE LOUISE Spasibo. Tsarina. MARIANE as CATHERINE Your memory is prodigious, my dear. JULIE LOUISE She laughs. Yes, that’s what she says. CATHERINE (MARIANE) places her cool hand on JULIE LOUISE’s feverish brow. MARIANE as CATHERINE But is memory ever enough, child? What about love? JULIE LOUISE PAUSE. Yes, that’s what she says. ÉLISABETH enters. MARIANE gasps and giggles. MARIANE (whispering) She found us. JULIE LOUISE (whispering) I know. ÉLISABETH Must you always wear that black shawl? You look like an old woman. JULIE LOUISE I feel cold. ÉLISABETH Well, its Russia. We’re all cold. I have a letter from that wretched Mairie Victoire. Read it to me. My eyes are so tired I can hardly see.

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JULIE LOUISE She scans the letter quickly. The young dauphin has died alone in his cell! ÉLISABETH O no. That sweet sweet gentle child. I remember.... JULIE LOUISE Mairie Victoire has exhibited a tribute to you. ÉLISABETH A tribute? JULIE LOUISE Yes. She calls it: The Studio of a Woman Artist. ÉLISABETH I know that painting. It is a portrait of herself as my student, kneeling at my feet. Kneeling at my feet. She scoffs. Ugly. JULIE LOUISE Apparently your painting of me as the spirit of the revolution is being exhibited together with Mairie Victoire’s effort and pieces by.... She laughs ÉLISABETH What? Who? JULIE LOUISE She laughs. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. ÉLISABETH She gasps. Audacious Mairie idiotic Victoire is a fool. JULIE LOUISE You asked her to help you. ÉLISABETH With Adélaïde? This is no help. MARIANE (whispering) Ask her. JULIE LOUISE (whispering) No. MARIANE (whispering) Ask her. MARIANE nudges JULIE LOUISE. JULIE LOUISE She sighs. Mother, read my novel.

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ÉLISABETH What? JULIE LOUISE My novel: La Mariane. ÉLISABETH What? JULIE LOUISE PAUSE. La Mariane. Everyone likes Mariane: her hair, her nose, her feet, her smile. ÉLISABETH I have no time for this. MARIANE and JULIE LOUISE look at each other. ÉLISABETH I am to start the Tsarina's portrait tomorrow. The pinnacle of my artistic career.... JULIE LOUISE But it is not to be. The next morning, the Tsarina’s maid finds Catherine upon the floor. CATHERINE collapses. JULIE LOUISE The Tsarina is dying. A great anxiety spreads. Catherine is the beloved mother of all the Russias - and then - there is an awful dread of her successor, Paul. The Tsarina is laid out in state. All go to kiss her body. ÉLISABETH I can not. JULIE LOUISE I do. One last gentle visit. CATHERINE lies in state; JULIE LOUISE kisses her hand. JULIE LOUISE Paul is now Tsar. Again, danger. Again, blood. The least infraction of his many laws and endless regulations is punished by exile to Siberia. MARIANE as PAUL Mademoiselle Julie Louise, I do not want them.... JULIE LOUISE Who is that, Tzar Paul?

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MARIANE as PAUL The others to talk to each other. It will only mean trouble. JULIE LOUISE Well, how will they then know when its time for supper? MARIANE as PAUL He laughs. You are right. Alright they can talk, but they cannot wear their round hats of any sort whatsoever. I take it as a revolutionary symbol, you know, the round hat. JULIE LOUISE Why? Our heads are round. MARIANE as PAUL He laughs. Except for the English. They laugh. MARIANE as PAUL And everyone now has to eat borscht all the time. JULIE LOUISE Them maybe they won’t want to know when dinner is. MARIANE as PAUL He laughs. They’d better. JULIE LOUISE And those who forget will vomit in fear. MARIANE as PAUL And why is that, pray tell? JULIE LOUISE They’re all afraid of you, you know. MARIANE as PAUL Good. JULIE LOUISE But you are always polite to me. Why me? MARIANE as PAUL He laughs. Now, who is this Bonaparte, Julie Louise? What does he want? JULIE LOUISE I know nothing. MARIANE as PAUL But you are French?

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JULIE LOUISE Yes? MARIANE as PAUL And so is he. JULIE LOUISE I believe he is from Corsica. MARIANE as PAUL Where? JULIE LOUISE A warm place. Near France. MARIANE as PAUL See, you know much. Tell me of this Bonaparte. They say he is the devil. JULIE LOUISE Perhaps he is. And if so, will he like it here in Russia? It is very cold. They laugh uproariously. JULIE LOUISE The court is always watching us. Am I too now to be feared? Men now tell me they love me when they are not looking over their shoulders. People are always disappearing. Nothing happens inside of me. Nothing, nothing at all. Is it because I laugh too much? Or is it because Hélène has forbidden Mariane to dance? ÉLISABETH Tsar Paul is intrigued with you. JULIE LOUISE Is he? I make him laugh, that’s all. ÉLISABETH A woman knows these things, that as a man he wants more. JULIE LOUISE What are you saying? ÉLISABETH You could be the new Tsarina. JULIE LOUISE Ridiculous. ÉLISABETH He is a lovely man.

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JULIE LOUISE Then will he want a portrait of you? A red one? ÉLISABETH I think he will want a portrait of you. JULIE LOUISE Mariane and I make new friends away from the Palace. Countess Czernicheff is very considerate and helps me. We go sledding. Her family cares for me. There is always laughter. More laughter. JULIE LOUISE laughs. JULIE LOUISE It is at the home of the Countess that I meet a certain Gaétan Bernard Nigris. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I am Gaétan Bernard Nigris, the secretary of your host, Count Czernicheff, who is - as you doubtless know - the Director of the Imperial Concerts. JULIE LOUISE Gaétan Bernard Nigris has a good face. His soft ways, his melancholy look, his yellowish paleness, give him an intriguing and romantic air. He is self-possessed and attentive. And familiar.... like the radiant sun. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Julie Louise, you are a flower I have never seen. JULIE LOUISE Am I? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Your face is forever gravé dans mon coeur. JULIE LOUISE Is it? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD You are the beauty in your family. JULIE LOUISE You mean my Mother is. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD No, you are truly the light of the universe. You and you alone are the woman I will revere to the end of time. I would take it as a sign of such grace if you would call me Gaétan Bernard.

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JULIE LOUISE Gaétan Bernard ÉLISABETH This marriage will never make you happy. JULIE LOUISE Marriage? Who said anything about marriage? Ridiculous. ÉLISABETH I find it reprehensible that Countess Czernicheff conspires to make this Nigris my son-in-law. Nigris. JULIE LOUISE Gaétan Bernard Nigris. I am falling in love with him. ÉLISABETH She snorts. I mourn at the thought. JULIE LOUISE I love Gaétan Bernard. ÉLISABETH You have been allowed too much freedom from an early age. JULIE LOUISE laughs. ÉLISABETH She scoffs. This novel. I have been too good to you. I have been too generous. JULIE LOUISE You reek of it. ÉLISABETH What? JULIE LOUISE Jealousy. ÉLISABETH Now who’s ridiculous? JULIE LOUISE If you do not admit it, it does not make it less true. I will marry this man ÉLISABETH A man without talent, without fortune, without a name, when you could be the Tsarina of all the Russias. JULIE LOUISE Gaétan Bernard is a noble superior man.

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ÉLISABETH I despair for you. JULIE LOUISE Do you? ÉLISABETH I need one last sitting. For a portrait of you, Tsar Paul might consider a post for me. JULIE LOUISE Ha. ÉLISABETH Now no one commissions me. JULIE LOUISE I am unable. ÉLISABETH Please? Please? As Flora, the goddess of flowers, as she strides across the landscape, a long red veil draped over her left shoulder, swelling in the breeze. Or maybe as Amphion, the child of Zeus? A great singer, she kills herself after the loss of her children. No, Flora is better. Please. You are my life. JULIE LOUISE I have never noticed, Madame. In my life, I want someone who will never abandon me. ÉLISABETH Who? Who? Me? JULIE LOUISE Mariane will never abandon me. ÉLISABETH Do you mean me? Abandon you? Me? JULIE LOUISE On the day I was born you told the midwife you were too busy. ÉLISABETH I did not. Did I? How do you know? JULIE LOUISE Papa told me. You said: (mimics ÉLISABETH) Tomorrow? Tomorrow? Impossible. I cannot give birth tomorrow. I have a sitting. PAUSE. (normal) I have a prodigious memory.

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ÉLISABETH I suffer alone. JULIE LOUISE But not in silence. ÉLISABETH Flora is perfect for you. JULIE LOUISE No. ÉLISABETH Flora is the moment just before the marriage. JULIE LOUISE No. ÉLISABETH I will give you my blessing if you sit for this portrait. JULIE LOUISE No. ÉLISABETH PAUSE I will read your novel. JULIE LOUISE I pose for one last time.... ÉLISABETH Brunette is my most finished, my most perfect work. JULIE LOUISE No. Julie Louise is herself. ÉLISABETH You are cold to me. JULIE LOUISE I am me, Mother. Is it necessary to fear such a thing? ÉLISABETH I don’t understand you. JULIE LOUISE Accept me for who I am. With the bitter the bitter. Her painting, my Flora, is universally acclaimed - and I secretly among them. ÉLISABETH My painting, my Flora, is universally acclaimed. JULIE LOUISE (whispering) And I secretly among them.

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Act Two, scene 06 It is JULIE LOUISE’s wedding day; ÉLISABETH gives her a gift wrapped in red silk. ÉLISABETH Are you happy now that you are married? JULIE LOUISE puts the gift down immediately. ÉLISABETH The Tsar will not give me a post. JULIE LOUISE waves to MARIANE who waves back. ÉLISABETH looks but there is no one there. ÉLISABETH There is nothing more for me here; I am going to live in England. It cannot be any colder there. You could have given me something in return. JULIE LOUISE You already have everything. ÉLISABETH exits. JULIE LOUISE I stand in the icy moonlight. I throw my Mother’s gift into the river. This is the happiest moment of my life. I am free. JULIE LOUISE’s manuscript blows in the wind.

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Act Two, scene 07 JULIE LOUISE I am nineteen. People call me Madame Nigris. GAÉTAN BERNARD (MARIANE) and JULIE LOUISE sit at table. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I have wonderful news. JULIE LOUISE And? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD And so? JULIE LOUISE She laughs. And so I can’t wait to hear it. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Shall I make you.... wait. JULIE LOUISE She laughs. Please don’t, you cruel bear. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I think I shall. JULIE LOUISE Please please please.... MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I am promoted to Chief Secretary. JULIE LOUISE That is excellent news. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Are you pleased? JULIE LOUISE Very. You deserve nothing less. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I am a happy man. There is more. JULIE LOUISE More? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Yes. Guess. JULIE LOUISE The winter will be over.... tomorrow.

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MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Silly. JULIE LOUISE Silly? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Silly and beloved. The Czernicheffs will throw a ball to honour the occasion of my promotion. JULIE LOUISE O? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Are you pleased? JULIE LOUISE What shall I wear? MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Wear the tiara Tsarina Catherine gave you. JULIE LOUISE I will not any longer wear the Tsarina’s tiara. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD But you will look so beautiful. JULIE LOUISE I cannot. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Why? JULIE LOUISE No. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD No? JULIE LOUISE Simply no. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD It would be good for me to be seen with you in the Tsarina’s tiara. JULIE LOUISE Then take the tiara to the ball instead. GAÉTAN BERNARD is exasperated. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I want more wine.

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JULIE LOUISE Perhaps you’ve had enough. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD There is never enough. Where is the bottle?.... that Hungarian wine.... here it is. GAÉTAN BERNARD finds a bottle and pours himself a large glass. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Love? is this love? JULIE LOUISE I don’t know what you mean. GAÉTAN BERNARD burps. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Excuse me. He giggles. GAÉTAN BERNARD burps again and laughs. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Come, laugh with me. JULIE LOUISE I thought you a more poetic man MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I am a poetic man. GAÉTAN BERNARD begins to take his clothes off. JULIE LOUISE Stop. You’ll freeze to death. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD That would be a poetic death, don’t you thinK? He giggles. A Russian death. GAÉTAN BERNARD is now completely naked. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Am I not attractive? JULIE LOUISE I have seen better men.

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MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Really? JULIE LOUISE Yes. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Naked men? JULIE LOUISE Yes. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Who? JULIE LOUISE Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer, Prince Rosolato, my Father. Even the Red Monster. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD And what do they have? JULIE LOUISE That you do not? Talent, fortune, a name. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD O? JULIE LOUISE My Mother wanted me to marry the Tsar. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD How am I to compete with the Tsar? JULIE LOUISE She was just jealous. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I don’t understand. He sobs. JULIE LOUISE Later that night, an assassin enters the Tsar Paul’s bedroom in the Winter Palace and strangles him.... PAUL (MARIANE) collapses. MARIANE as PAUL I though you were my friends. JULIE LOUISE Saint Petersburg is a delirium of joy. People sing and dance and kiss and shout: MARIANE & JULIE LOUISE What a blessing! What a blessing!!

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JULIE LOUISE There is a howling for the blood of the dead Paul. Will they want mine as well? The new Tsar, Alexander, places the diamond tiara on the head of the radiant Tsarina. They are universally acclaimed. And loved. It is very glorious. Gaétan Bernard and I are presented at the Winter Palace. GAÉTAN BERNARD (MARIANE) and JULIE LOUISE bow, and dance, swirling joyously. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD We should dance more often. JULIE LOUISE smiles. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD We are good together, aren’t we? JULIE LOUISE smiles. JULIE LOUISE Mariane has never been so happy. Never been so happy. MARIANE (whispering) Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.... JULIE LOUISE What? Who? Vigée-Lebrun? MARIANE The Count de Monster has died. JULIE LOUISE Where? MARIANE In wretched bleak exile in England, impoverished and mad. As he lay dying, Calonne called for your Mother. I heard that she was with him at the end. I heard she was not. All say she has gone back to Paris. GAÉTAN BERNARD and JULIE LOUISE make love. JULIE LOUISE Rosolato Rosolato Rosolato my love. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Who?

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JULIE LOUISE No one. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD You love another? JULIE LOUISE No. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD You have a lover? JULIE LOUISE Nothing. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD You’ve mentioned him before, this Rosolato. Is he Italian? JULIE LOUISE Nothing. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I have tried and tried and tried with you. JULIE LOUISE Yes. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD You are cold to me. JULIE LOUISE Yes. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD It makes me sad. JULIE LOUISE Gaétan Bernard now works all the time. Alone, I go to many parties. Alone, Mariane goes to many parties. She now loves vodka. MARIANE tipples. JULIE LOUISE Vodka is her wonderful friend. With it she sings deep lovely songs of disappointment. Songs of thwarted revenge. JULIE LOUISE sings; MARIANE mouths the words.

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Act Two, scene 08 JULIE LOUISE Years go by. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I must go to Paris to engage musical artists for Count Czernicheff’s new theatre. Will you come? JULIE LOUISE Papa, I can see Papa. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD It will be a long cold trip. JULIE LOUISE We travel by carriage. Rumbling rumbling rattling silence among the stars in the night of time. It is always dark. I hate Gaétan Bernard. I hate his face. At the next posthouse, all the horses are gone. Taken. There are none for us. Gaétan Bernard goes off into the night for food. I remain in my carriage at the side of the river. The bitter wind blows. I am frozen. A vigil in the night of time. Snow, snow, so light and dry. Like feathers. The wind. The wind blowing from the darkest north. The Winter Pines invite silence. Cold and white. Cold and white. It is my only solace. In the mute roar of the icy wind as I fall asleep. MARIANE as MESMER For each of us, dearest Julie Louise, others are the mystery. Do we ever know what sufferings and desires have furrowed their journey? Have you heard Destiny whisper in their ear? JULIE LOUISE He is so preoccupied, Anton. Sometimes he does not speak to me for weeks on end. Sometimes I do not speak to him. So much like my childhood. Do you remember? MARIANE as MESMER I remember. JULIE LOUISE I do not let him touch me.

Anymore.

MARIANE as MESMER It is not what is seen or said or thought, but the unrelenting union, inexpressible in our souls. Gaétan Bernard loves you in a way that no one else ever has.

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JULIE LOUISE No. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. No.... it was never true. MARIANE as MESMER And what of Mariane? Can she not be your ally with.... him? JULIE LOUISE I don’t know. MARIANE as MESMER You surely do, Julie Louise. Keep a vigil among the stars in the night of time. JULIE LOUISE I do, Anton. I do. MARIANE as MESMER Cold and white. JULIE LOUISE Cold and white. In La Mariane, the heroine now has a husband, Félibien. She is traveling to meet her Father, Hérode. There is no Mother. These nights are so cold. Cold and dark and lonely. It is all different now. I know you read my manuscript while I sleep, Anton. I am encouraged. I wonder if Prince Rosolato should make an appearance in La Mariane? A wiser man. Older. Different. This winter cannot last forever. Mariane must be patient. Mariane keeps a vigil among the stars in the night of time. MARIANE It is different now, isn’t it? JULIE LOUISE She nods. Mariane now sees with the clear light of cold. Better, this is better. It awakens deep wonderful feelings within her. My novel has become so long. I love every page. It is our only baggage. It is my only solace.

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Act Two, scene 09 MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Paris is filled with strangers. No one will talk to me. JULIE LOUISE Your French is horrible. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD As is your Russian. JULIE LOUISE We are in France. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I hate France. JULIE LOUISE I see Papa on the rue de Rivoli. I am so shocked at how old he had become. I hide in the shadow of the bustling crowd. My novel, my Mariane, is now progressing beautifully. Mariane is reunited with her Father, Hérode, who she loves beyond all heaven. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD I would like to visit your Mother. JULIE LOUISE No. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD She can be so breathtakingly beautiful. JULIE LOUISE Don’t talk to her. Don’t. I won’t have you talking to her. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD She is such a good artist. JULIE LOUISE No. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Yes. JULIE LOUISE No. MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Yes. You are wrong - she is a great artist. I say this even though she despises me. JULIE LOUISE I will not have my Mother in my life.... or yours.

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GAÉTAN BERNARD (MARIANE) storms out, raving: MARIANE as GAÉTAN BERNARD Your damned infernal coldness.

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Act Two, scene 10 JULIE LOUISE I am twenty-eight. My marriage is over. I remain in Paris. I have Mariane and she has me. And we both have you, Anton. We now live on the rue de Cléry in my Grandfather’s old apartment. It is a ruin. Abandoned during the Terror. Red terror. There are rats, cats. I see a cat kill a rat and eat its heart. I see a rat kill a cat. Poor Mariane, her husband, Félibien, has left her. For I have decided that Félibien is not needed, Anton. What do you think of that? The husband is not needed. Never needed. Shall I have his body found floating in the Seine? Or perhaps just.... remove him? As if.... as if he never existed? Winter spring summer. Winter spring summer. I see Papa again. (to JEAN BAPTISTE) I wanted to see you, Papa, I wanted to. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE What? JULIE LOUISE I didn’t know where you were. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Where do you stay? And your husband, forgive me, I have forgotten his name? JULIE LOUISE Gaétan Bernard has returned to Saint Petersburg.... MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Will you be joining him? JULIE LOUISE No. I stay on the rue de Cléry. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE What? JULIE LOUISE The rue de Cléry. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Oh yes that apartment. I never cared for it. Your Grandfather died there. JULIE LOUISE I know. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE What?

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JULIE LOUISE I know, Papa. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Your Mother professes to be horrified at what I had had to do during the revolution. In order to survive. In order just to survive. JULIE LOUISE I understand. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Do you? JULIE LOUISE Yes. I have Mariane - it is all I can do. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE What? JULIE LOUISE Mariane is at odds with herself. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Nobody cares about her anymore. JULIE LOUISE Mariane? MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE Élisabeth. JULIE LOUISE PAUSE. Maman is a good painter. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE They all finally came to admire Adélaïde. She died, you know. I will send you some money. JULIE LOUISE No no, Papa. MARIANE as JEAN BAPTISTE I don’t have much, but.... JULIE LOUISE sings. JULIE LOUISE Mariane’s singing makes me weep, but then everything does. Mariane weeps with me. JULIE LOUISE and MARIANE cry.

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JULIE LOUISE Now in La Mariane, only her Father, Hérode, provides any aid. Grateful, Mariane dreams of a future. What though? Waiting for someone to come home, someone you care for, someone to love? A world without chaos? Has it happened yet? No? No. We could despair, Mariane and I. Mariane could despair. But, no. No. Mariane and I will never despair. MARIANE You are young. You are beautiful. The air smells good. JULIE LOUISE takes a deep breathe. JULIE LOUISE I am grateful to Mariane. For both of us life is so bitter. Mesmer appears to me, a ghost, as I walk the lonely teeming streets. The crowds ignore us. Anton, O Anton. Its been too long. MARIANE as MESMER Julie Louise, my sweet darling. The streets are so crowded. I had forgotten. JULIE LOUISE Aren't they though. MARIANE as MESMER I have a good idea. Let’s go to the Palais Royale. We can sit in the courtyard and have tea. JULIE LOUISE That’s very fashionable. MARIANE as MESMER Isn’t it though. JULIE LOUISE I think I’m going to have to abandoned my novel, Anton. MARIANE as MESMER O dear. JULIE LOUISE There are simply no more words. MARIANE as MESMER I shall miss it. JULIE LOUISE I don’t know if I will. MARIANE as MESMER Really?

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JULIE LOUISE I’m not sure. MARIANE as MESMER I’ve grown to appreciate its subtleties so very much. Why? JULIE LOUISE Unfinished destiny. That’s it, I guess. MARIANE as MESMER Unfinished destiny. JULIE LOUISE Like everyone I suppose. MARIANE as MESMER Yes, but I always wanted to know how it would turn out. JULIE LOUISE Will you still be my friend, Anton? MARIANE as MESMER Of course, my sweet one. MESMER (MARIANE) mouths his words. JULIE LOUISE What? I didn’t hear you. MARIANE as MESMER Beauties of truth our thoughts have not created can never be known to us. Promise me you’ll try to finish your novel. Promise me. JULIE LOUISE looks about. JULIE LOUISE I promise, Anton. I do feel inspired today suddenly. Is it the light? Mariane’s father has died. Mariane’s Mother, Hélène is far away. MARIANE as MESMER But coming closer with every breathe.... JULIE LOUISE sees ÉLISABETH; she gasps. ÉLISABETH peers. ÉLISABETH Mairie Victoire, is that you?

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JULIE LOUISE No, its Julie Louise, Maman. ÉLISABETH She gasps. Brunette? I thought it was Mairie Victoire. I couldn’t do a thing without her. JULIE LOUISE She was always very helpful. ÉLISABETH Did you see what they’re doing over there? A farce about Antoinette’s death. A farce. JULIE LOUISE Red. Blood. A flower I have never seen. ÉLISABETH Horrible. How long has it been? JULIE LOUISE Saint Petersburg. ÉLISABETH Hmmmm? Well, there was London too. That was a misery. Seven years? JULIE LOUISE Eight. ÉLISABETH Eight, has it been? I was very successful in Saint Petersburg. Madame Dimidoff, Princess Menszicoff, Comtesse Potocka, Comtesse Schouvaloff, the Grand Duchess Hélène.... JULIE LOUISE Hélène? ÉLISABETH Yes, and others - the Grand Duchess Constance, the Comtesse de Scawronska, Princess Isoupoff, Princess Baurisia.... JULIE LOUISE And me as Flora. ÉLISABETH Yes, that’s right, Flora. I liked it though my favourite was you as Mademoiselle La Liberté. The drapery was superb. JULIE LOUISE My Flora was better. Soft. Elegant. The shadows of what I wonder?....

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ÉLISABETH Where? JULIE LOUISE On the frontal bone of my face. It was good work. ÉLISABETH Difficult to do, too. Thank you. Brunette, I can’t believe its you. JULIE LOUISE I.... I.... wanted to see you. ÉLISABETH Good. I’m glad. You’ll enjoy this - Bonaparte himself came to visit me. Just after England. JULIE LOUISE Tsar Paul always supposed Bonaparte to be the devil. ÉLISABETH Ha. JULIE LOUISE Was he? ÉLISABETH She scoffs. He was a greedy little man. He always wanted champagne. More champagne - as if we drink champagne. I painted a portrait of his sister. His sister. She snorts. I who painted the Queen of France? I who painted the Tsar? I who painted the King of Poland.... he actually asked me which King of Poland? Audacious. Everything was wrong with him. There was no finesse. He wanted drawings. Really, Brunette, I cannot draw anymore. My eyes are too weak. I tried to solicit his help in getting back the Hotel de Lambert but it was no good - Bonaparte just laughed. And he made me do a full-length portrait. She sputters. Fulllength? I never do full-length portraits. It is not a genre I care for. The Emperor just laughed at me and said that it is better that it be a genre that he cared for. She scoffs. I deserve better. JULIE LOUISE Everyone does. ÉLISABETH Anyway, he’s long gone. Kings are not like they used to be. It goes on and on, this saga of mine. JULIE LOUISE Really?

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ÉLISABETH Mairie Victoire was able to arrange an audience for me with new King Louis, just the other week. He is very old, you know. He offered me the post of Official Taster. JULIE LOUISE What can he be thinking? ÉLISABETH I told him: a taster, Sire?, but I am an artist. JULIE LOUISE What did he say to that? ÉLISABETH He mumbled on for a while. ÉLISABETH But then it all came back to him. (as LOUIS) Aaaaahh, I remember you now, Madame Vigée-LeBrun. I remember you. You did that painting of my dear darling sister-in-law, Marie Antoinette. What does it matter? What does it matter? You were so pretty when you were young, my dear. So pretty. He sobs. My children now fight over the throne. I wish I was dead. JULIE LOUISE It sounds like his life is very difficult. ÉLISABETH Perhaps. JULIE LOUISE At least, his destiny is finished. ÉLISABETH Hmmmm? Sire, I told him, allow me show you this portrait of Marie Antoinette I have painted as if.... She sobs .... as she would have been had she lived. Elegant and beautiful in her aging. The old King cried. It was quite touching, really. She sighs. It was gracious then. Brunette, I can’t believe its you. And your husband? I’ve forgotten his name. JULIE LOUISE No. Just me. I live on the rue de Cléry. ÉLISABETH I never cared for that apartment. Your Grandfather died there. JULIE LOUISE Papa died. ÉLISABETH says nothing.

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JULIE LOUISE Papa died. JULIE LOUISE begins to write furiously. ÉLISABETH What are you doing, Brunette? JULIE LOUISE She reads as she writes. Mariane’s Father dies. She weeps with desperate profound grief. Mariane speaks the funeral oration: my Father was as beautiful as an angel. He was clever, outstanding, vivacious, and very intelligent. There is a quiet murmur of agreement from those assembled. Hélène shocks everyone in attendance: No no no, this is simply not true. Your Father was never such a man. He was petty and unkind, a boor and a beast. A tradesman. Mariane is hurt and angered and sharply rebukes her Mother. JULIE LOUISE stops writing and turns to ÉLISABETH. JULIE LOUISE Its always like this with you. You could say something nice. He was my Father. You’ve become very pompous. You are not Marie Antoinette. ÉLISABETH Don’t you dare say that name in that tone. You don’t know what anguish I have suffered because of her. Or you. I shed many bitter tears over your marriage. JULIE LOUISE Your marriage was no great success either. Cold and white, cold and white, cold and white. ÉLISABETH What are you saying? JULIE LOUISE I am afraid. JULIE LOUISE waves. We see MARIANE. JULIE LOUISE (calling) Mariane. Mariane. ÉLISABETH Someone?

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JULIE LOUISE O I thought I saw my friend Mariane. ÉLISABETH I’m glad you have friends. JULIE LOUISE Its so pleasant today, Mother. With you. You know, I’m only really happiest in Paris. ÉLISABETH Paris.... She scoffs. It was better. JULIE LOUISE Is it the light? ÉLISABETH Everything is light. JULIE LOUISE O I saw your portrait of Prince Rosolato recently. ÉLISABETH Who? JULIE LOUISE He is Mariane’s uncle. Really her Father’s friend, but she calls him uncle. We visited him a long time ago. ÉLISABETH We did? JULIE LOUISE He wore a lilac robe embroidered with a golden flower I have never seen again. ÉLISABETH O you mean that Mesmer? I never did a portrait of any such person. JULIE LOUISE But you did, Mother ÉLISABETH I think I would remember. PAUSE. More tea? JULIE LOUISE Taking tea is very fashionable. I like to do fashionable things. To pass the time. ÉLISABETH What?

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JULIE LOUISE I feel inspired today. Is it the light? Hélène - that’s you, Mother - and Prince Rosolato, her trusted advisor, now sit jointly on the throne of the Kingdom. ÉLISABETH Which kingdom, Brunette? JULIE LOUISE (whispering) My kingdom. ÉLISABETH I don’t understand. JULIE LOUISE But now it is Mariane that they both love, Hélène and the beloved Rosolato. Differently. Devoutly. The Kingdom is happy flowers. Mariane is so elated. She and her friends sing and dance. Do we have the right to believe this? To be this happy? There is a shadow.... ÉLISABETH There is always a shadow. JULIE LOUISE It creeps upon me like a swarm of grackles. I will dream on it. PAUSE. Will I dream on it? Can I leave these pages with you, Mother? If you’ll look over here, you’ll see where I have dedicated it to my dreams. ÉLISABETH takes the manuscript. ÉLISABETH O Brunette. JULIE LOUISE I have failed, Maman. ÉLISABETH We have all failed. JULIE LOUISE No, not you. JULIE LOUISE gets up and leaves. JULIE LOUISE I am so like her. JULIE LOUISE sobs. ÉLISABETH (calling) Who?

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JULIE LOUISE (whispering) I don’t know.

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Act Two, scene 11 JULIE LOUISE Prince Rosolato supports Mariane in her sadness. Constantly, always. (to MARIANE) Why doesn’t he love me? MARIANE He does.... he does. PAUSE. He loves you. JULIE LOUISE She sighs. She gives herself to him, freely and with passion. There is a song in the wind. MARIANE The cold. JULIE LOUISE My manuscript becomes my blanket. PAUSE. Prince Rosolato dies. MARIANE cries. JULIE LOUISE Dark tears. Mariane now seems almost eager to go with him to his death. Her death. She wails into the darkest night: MARIANE Ah woe, ah woe! Tis vain, tis all in vain, death and despair must end the fatal pain. JULIE LOUISE Mariane is alone. Months go by. I see no one. I write. I see no one. I write. Months and months go by. Months go by. Wind. Mariane lives in the forest. I write. It is the wind that sings. The animals are her friends. They keep her company and help her in all ways. Mariane is grateful. A gentle great darkness covers the land. It is the wind that sings. Hélène is lost. Why? Mariane remembers little.... little tunes. Wondering, wondering the green warm smells songs bread puppet drive steam smoke morning cold. My communion. MARIANE A flower I have never seen. JULIE LOUISE A flower I have never seen. God. Colour. Green. Green. Green. Red. Deep wild raging wild raged raging gorge. La Terreur. I am a bird. I am a song. I am the summer setting sun, long and warm. The jaw, my jaw, I dream. I am dreams. Mariane lives in the forest. Mariane lives in

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the wind. I am harvest I am bounty I am snow. I am the the stars in the night. I am Jeanne Julie Louis LeBrun Nigris. I am ice. I am Brunette. I am Mariane. I am the fatal pain. PAUSE. I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe. She gasps. The ice in the room. I cannot breathe. The cold. MARIANE The cold. JULIE LOUISE The cold. I die at midnight. I die at midnight. Wind wind wind in wind. MARIANE The cold. MARIANE dies. JULIE LOUISE PAUSE. I die at midnight. JULIE LOUISE dies.

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Act Two, scene 12 ÉLISABETH My heart died at midnight. This place in Paris where all the sad abandoned bodies are taken. Bodies drowned, bodies crushed, bodies killed. Bodies that have died for just no reason at all.... She swoons. She was so young, a beautiful child. Why? Why? Only thirty-nine. This day I am childless. It is the greatest sadness. JULIE LOUISE Still a ghost, still with fear, I haunt my Mother’s heart. Years go by. You are growing old. Is Mairie Victoire taking good care of you? ÉLISABETH Mairie Victoire, when was Brunette’s birthday? I don’t remember. Did you ever know? JULIE LOUISE February twelfth, Mother. ÉLISABETH When was it? JULIE LOUISE February twelfth. February twelfth. She cries. ÉLISABETH I don’t remember. She sighs. Paris is filled with strangers. I show at another salon, dirty and noisy, next to an abattoir. Sordid. My portraits of Madame Davidoff, Général le Comte du Coëtlosquet, Madame Lafond. JULIE LOUISE Years go by. I am sorry that Mairie Victoire has died, Mother. You now have no one.... except me. So old, alone in the barren decrepit Hotel de Lambert. A salad of lemons, salad of lemons, a salad, a salad, the bitter bitter bitter bitter juice of lemons. ÉLISABETH Ah, poor Antoinette. It fills me with horror that she was alone in her last moments with no one to comfort her, to receive her last wishes. JULIE LOUISE Years go by. Why don’t you again visit the fortune-teller, Mother? ÉLISABETH I haven’t thought about that.... charlatan in years. I wonder what happened.... to me?

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JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER The man you love loves you truly, Madame Vigée-LeBrun. ÉLISABETH He never did. She sobs. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER Your husband did. ÉLISABETH She sobs. He did. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER He will make a fortune. ÉLISABETH And he lost it. All gone. It was mine. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER Nothing is ours except our love of ourselves. Did you lose that too? ÉLISABETH PAUSE. Yes. JULIE LOUISE as FORTUNE-TELLER We are fearfully and wonderfully made. ÉLISABETH I knew that. JULIE LOUISE Years go by. ÉLISABETH The young Dauphin, Louis Joseph. Dead. I have not seen this painting of mine in thirty, no, forty years. Ah, what’s this? Brunette, its our portrait. JULIE LOUISE Its beautiful. ÉLISABETH That was my daughter, Brunette. She disappeared. She cries. JULIE LOUISE I am still here with you. Please talk to me. Tell me a million tiny things about love. A heroine in the forest? Years go by. ÉLISABETH She paints. Brunette, today is your birthday. I know it is. I checked. I paint a portrait of you as you would have been.... You are

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beautiful. She sobs. All that I have endured.... my only happiness has been in the act of painting. JULIE LOUISE And me? And me? You said I was your life. ÉLISABETH Strange light. Looking at it like this.... The screams of Madame DuBarry. She moans. Paris is filled with strangers. JULIE LOUISE Paris was always filled with strangers. Mother? Mother? Years go by. A whole day just to get dressed. Years go by. Dark night, she paints, barely able to hold the brush, barely able to stand.... Oh, Mother. ÉLISABETH .... I paint myself into her portrait. A posthumous portrait. She laughs and coughs. My Father wanted me to be a better painter than he was. I thought I was. Vanity. Me and Brunette. PAUSE. No, Julie Louise and me. JULIE LOUISE Years go by. At last. At last, you visit my grave in the cemetery at Louvreciennes. I love you. ÉLISABETH I have brought you this portrait of us, Julie Louise. JULIE LOUISE I love you. ÉLISABETH I so deeply wish you could see it. JULIE LOUISE I can. I can. You can be so tender. I thank you for this. I thank you. My Mother suffers a stroke while planting wisteria on my grave. In the wind. In the cold. A heroine of the cold. We are all here, waiting for you, Mother: your rival, Adélaïde and your protégé, Mairie Victoire and your Queen, Marie Antoinette and your lover, the Comte de Calonne and Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer and Mariane and Hélène and Hérode and Félibien and Prince Rosolato and Tsarina Catherine and Papa and me. Together we sing and dance, encouraged by our friend, Mariane. With Mariane, we live in the forest. It is the wind that sings of our redemption. Do we have the right to be this happy without you, Mother?

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ÉLISABETH It fills me with horror that I am alone in my last moments with no one to comfort me, with no one to give my last wishes to. No one. No one. I am nothing but sadness. JULIE LOUISE You die and are buried by my side in the cemetery of Louvreciennes. Your stone reads: ici enfin je repose, Élisabeth VigéeLeBrun. There is no inscription on mine. Just my name. Now covered in moss, now covered in snow, now covered in flowers, now covered in wind. Now covered in love. ÉLISABETH Where am I? JULIE LOUISE My Mother. Maman.... end of play elmirà paris toronto montréal stratford 15.11.00

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