The figures painted in world-famous works of art always capture the imagination. Who were these real people made into everlasting images? Austin Shakespeare explores the person behind the portrait in this staged reading focused on John Singer Sargent’s most fashionable painting. In the play written and directed by Ann Ciccolella, Virginie Gautreau (Laura D’Eramo) finds being the painted subject of Sargent’s (Michael Morse) enigmatic Madame X comes with more infamy than she anticipated. Rounding out the rest of the cast are Y.A. Oza, Bennie Braswell, and Katie Browne. – James Scott
