Theater
Isabelle Adjani
Marilyn’s Vertigo

Directed by Olivier Steiner & Emmanuel Lagarrigue
Written by Olivier Steiner & Isabelle Adjani

North American Premiere

Thursday, October 12 & Friday, October 13, 2023
7:30pm
Post-Show Champagne Toast on Friday, October 13
FIAF Florence Gould Hall

In French with English supertitles

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This extraordinary homage to Marilyn Monroe is based on the actress’s final interview, two days before her death. In a riveting solo stage performance, the renowned French actress Isabelle Adjani engages in a surreal dialogue with Monroe, oscillating in tone between an intimate conversation with a friend and a formal press interview—with moments of both voice-over and direct audience address. In her richly nuanced monologue, featuring an exact replica of the black Dior dress Monroe wore at her final photo session, Adjani interprets an icon while exploring the broader complexities of stardom, identity, and legacy.

There will be a Champagne toast following the Friday, October 13 performance to celebrate the closing night of Crossing The Line Festival.

Approx. 1hr 20min, no intermission

Isabelle Adjani

One of France’s greatest actresses, Isabelle Yasmine Adjani enjoys international recognition. She has won five César Awards and received two Oscar nominations. Adjani returns to the Crossing The Line Festival in 2023 after previously performing in Opening Night at the 2019 edition.

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    • Born in Paris to an Algerian father and a German mother, Adjani started performing at an early age. At 17, she was asked to join the Comédie Française—making her the youngest actress ever to attend the prestigious institution. Adjani is the only French actress who has been awarded five Césars (France’s version of the Oscars), winning best actress for her performances in Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981), One Deadly Summer (Jean Becker, 1983), Camille Claudel (Bruno Nuytten, 1988), Queen Margot (Patrice Chéreau, 1994), La journée de la jupe (Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, 2009). She received two Oscar nominations for her performances in The story of Adele H. (François Truffaut, 1975) and Camille Claudel, and has won two best actress awards at the Cannes Film Festival for her remarkable performances in Possession and Quartet (James Ivory, 1981). Her most recent movie, The world is yours (Romain Gavras, 2018), was shown as part of the Directors’ Fortnight 2018 in Cannes. Adjani is a brand ambassador for L’Oréal Monde.

Olivier Steiner

Olivier Steiner is an author, producer at France Culture, and maintains an online journal on the cultural website Diacritik.

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    • Steiner has published Bohème and La vie privée at Éditions Gallimard, La Main de Tristan at Éditions des Busclats, and Le Ravissement de Marilyn Monroe at Éditions Métropolis. His next book is Guillaume.

Emmanuel Lagarrigue

Emmanuel Lagarrigue is a visual artist with multidisciplinary practice (installation, sound, video, sculpture, direction).

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    • Lagarrigue’s work has been exhibited internationally (Korea, Brazil, Spain) and is present in many private and public collections (Musée National d’Art Moderne—Centre Georges Pompidou, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Musée des Abbattoirs, MacVal, many FRAC). He is also the winner of the 2017 Audi Talent Award. Lagarrigue is represented by Sultana Gallery.