Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight

Passionate. Brilliant. Defiant. Tonight, eighteenth-century scientific genius, Emilie du Châtelet, is back and determined to answer the question she died with: love or philosophy? head or heart? Join Emilie in this highly theatrical rediscovery of one of history’s most intriguing women as she makes sense of her life and legacy.

Lauren Gunderson’s play 'Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight' gives the real Emilie du Châtelet what she never had: an audience and world where women’s contribution to knowledge and learning are recognised and celebrated. As her long-time lover, the enigmatic Voltaire, once wrote: “[Emilie] was a great man whose only fault was being a woman”. Voltaire had the last word in his day, but Emilie gets the last word tonight.

'Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight' brings this story to life in a witty, fast-paced biographical comedy that tells her story in her way. We follow Emilie as she explores her life, her lovers, her passions and her progeny, trying to answer the question she died with before her time expires once more.

Michelle Ezzy, Director, said: “Emilie resonated with me from my first read. This emotionally-gripping, funny, insightful and engaging story about an oft-forgotten French female physicist encapsulates my greatest passions: arts, women’s stories, and science. I can’t wait for Perth audiences to meet this phenomenal woman, and hope that audiences see women in history - and their everyday lives - a little differently.”

'Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight' runs from 11-14 August 2021, kick-starting National Science Week (14-22 August).