The production, directed by Kevin Confoy, will officially open Jan. 22, 2009, and play a limited engagement through Feb. 7, 2009, at the Samuel Beckett Theatre. "Set during the French Enlightenment, the play is the true account of the volcanic, law-breaking, sexually-driven, intellectually-fuelled, sixteen-year love affair between Francois-Marie Voltaire (Boardman) and Emilie, Marquise du Chatelet (Stewart)," according to press notes. "He was a philosopher. An upstart poet. A free thinker. A blasphemer. A worshipper of Venus. Corrupter of morals. A playwright. He is on fire at the peak of his powers both intellectual and financial. She is arguably the most beautiful woman in France suffering the most tedious marriage in Europe and soon to emerge as one of the most profound physicists in the world. It is New Year's Eve 1733. The bells of Notre Dame are ringing eleven. The rest is history."
Emilie's Voltaire has designs by Jito Lee (scenic design), Jake DeGroot (lighting design), Carol Pelletier (costume design) and Geoffrey Roecker (sound design).
Tickets, priced $46.25, are available by visiting TicketCentral. The Samuel Beckett Theatre is located at 410 West 42nd Street in Manhattan.