Antonia: Behind the Myth of Marie Antoinette

Known for her iconic fashion, extravagant spending and unfortunate fate at the guillotine during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette’s pivotal role in a different revolution, that of opera in the late 18th century, is rarely discussed. Following a performance of Lully's 'Persée' at her wedding, which the young Dauphine 'appeared not to enjoy', Marie Antoinette spent the 1770s and 1780s at Versailles helping to reshape opera as an art form. A fierce champion of Gluck, whose dramatic, simple style became a precursor to the music of Richard Wagner, she also supported a number of other composers who set the tone for the Italian bel canto tradition, and her closeness to certain composers within the strict setting of Versailles would prove central to her undoing.

Part opera, part play, Antonia uncovers the lesser-known events of Marie Antoinette’s life (comical, scandalous, and heartbreaking), and explores them through an original script and the music of the composers in her world - Gluck, Piccinni, Sacchini, Dussek, and Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

Olivia Doutney as Marie Antoinette addresses the audience directly, with Petra Hajduchová at the harpsichord weaving in and out of character as the composers, creating a salon-style atmosphere, as though the audience has dropped into the royal living room. This is Marie Antoinette as you've never seen (or heard) her before!

70 minute performance with no interval. Ticket price includes guided tours of Chiswick House. The Duchess of Devonshire who lived at Chiswick House from 1774 was a close friend of Marie Antoinette, with the two having met many times on the Duchess's travels to France.