One on One with a Revolutionist: Park Krausen
Park Krausen is familiar with all things French after working as the artistic director for Theatre du Reve. But the role of Marie Antoinette gave her some pretty fancy French Revolutionary shoes to fill. Find out below why Park wanted to be a part of Gunderson’s latest play, and why the role of the former majesty is one of her favorites:
Q. When you hear French Revolution your brain doesn’t automatically think comedy, but this play is indeed humorous. What line or moment always makes you giggle?
A. Without giving too much away of Marie Antoinette’s Funnies – I sometimes have a hard time not breaking because Lauren is so damn funny. Her Marie is so damn funny. So I say about my husband former King Louis XVI – “I mean. He was a lumpy man, but he had his good moments. I didn’t dislike him. In fact I liked him, when he would just stand there looking serious. He was best when he was just….standing”.
Q. Although funny, these women are not to be messed with. What is your characters major strength?
A. Marie Antoinette is a badass because she 1) has an ability to insist on what she knows 2) has the ability to learn something 3) might just be somewhat clairvoyant.
Q. What made you want to be a part of this production?
A. I love the fact that we have the impossible meeting of four real women during the French revolution – the way that Lauren unveils the lost voices and female heroes of times gone by buried by patriarchal histories….always with a wicked and contemporary sense of humor.
Also, it is really a gift to be in a creative process with all women. It is a safe and dynamic space.
Lastly, I mean, I was pretty excited to be offered Marie Antoinette. Who wouldn’t be. That said, it is absolutely daunting. They are no small shoes to fill, however dainty they might be.
Q. Set in the past but incredibly poignant to issues today regarding equality, what do you hope audiences walk away saying?
A. I never knew that a female playwright tried to introduce a feminist agenda into the French Revolution.
I also find the comparative histories of France and the US at this hot moment really engaging. Where were we with the rights of slaves, of women of aristocracy. Our democracies are founded on/inspired by the same texts with revolutions happening years apart. Do we really live in a democracy? In the US?
