Stage and screen star Lauren Ambrose, a Tony nominee for her performance in the recent Broadway revival of My Fair Lady, heads the cast of a May 14 staged reading of David Adjmi’s brassy comedy Marie Antoinette at the Sharon Playhouse.

Directed by Sharon Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Michael Kevin Baldwin, the 7 PM reading at the Connecticut venue also features Emma Simon, Pun Bandhu, Spencer Scott Barros, James Rose, Danny Tieger, Lou Hagen, and Ryan Palmer. 

In this contemporary take on the young queen of France, Marie is a confection created by a society that values extravagance and artifice. But France’s love affair with the royals sours as revolution brews, and for Marie, the political suddenly becomes very personal.

Baldwin says, “Marie Antoinette is both outrageously funny and devastatingly poignant. Adjmi uses the tale of the ill-fated French monarch to explore our modern day culture of building up celebrities and then tearing them down."

Artistic Director Justin Boccitto produces the one-night-only benefit. 

Visit SharonPlayhouse.org.