Meet the Artist - The Sun King Speaks (through James Brown)

James Brown, who played King Louis XIV

Like the late “Godfather of Soul” with whom they share a name, countertenor James M. Brown is smartly dressed, admirably coiffed and intensely charismatic. So, it was a no-brainer to cast them as the most powerful person in Julie’s world: King Louis XIV.

Halfway through the opera, in one of the few wholly fictional episodes, the absolute monarch is surprised in his bedchamber by Julie, who seeks pardon for a capital crime of passion. In the ensuing conversation, the two explore the constraints that their society imposes on them: for Julie the pressure to choose a masculine or feminine identity; for the king the imperative to embody the entire nation. Hence the “royal we.” King Louis recognizes that their discontent stems from a single oppressive logic.

JULIE: In truth, I cannot separate the manly parts of me from the womanly parts any

more than I can split my body from my soul.

KING LOUIS: We understand. In one way, we are like you.

JULIE: Like me?

KING LOUIS: We are prisoners of pronouns. Do you follow?

JULIE: No, sire.

KING LOUIS: You are plural. The world says you must be singular. He or she.

JULIE: What about you, my lord?

KING LOUIS: The opposite of you. Condemned to live two lives in one.

In order to portray the most powerful being on earth in a moment of vulnerability, James studied Louis XIV and the French monarchy. That research informs their analysis of the scene.

JAMES BROWN:

This person was “en garde” at all times for many different reasons, especially in the assumption of being anointed by God to rule.  The walls they had to put up in order to keep their private and political life separate must have been exhausting.  However, they must have had the ability to put them up at the flip of a switch. I imagine those walls would soften when coming into contact with someone such as Julie d’Aubigny, who has a similar internal dialogue but lacks the words or life experience to express the contradictions that oppress them.