The French Wikipedia article on the Marriage of Figaro (the play, not the opera) claims that, in spite of the play having been censored by the king, Marie-Antoinette organized a representation in the Trianon in 1785, with herself playing the Countess, and the count of Artois (future king Charles X) playing Figaro (Wikipedia doesn't mention any of the other cast members). The claim is, of course, unsourced.
I know Marie-Antoinette did act in plays she stage at the Trianon with her entourage, but that seems quite a bit risqué. I also have trouble imagining the count of Artois going through the famous Figaro monologue (which is, basically, "down with the nobility and privileges") without massive cognitive dissonance.
A quick Google search only yields the official webpage of the Trianon in Versailles, which has the same (also unsourced) claim, and a forum where someone claims that this is untrue (yet again without sources, although it's harder to source a refutation).
Does anyone here know better?
Madame Campan talks at length about Le Mariage de Figaro and its controversy and makes no mention of the Queen performing it. I think if she had, it would have certainly been mentioned by Campan.
There are no mentions of the work being performed in any memoirs or published works by contemporaries that I could find with archive.org or searching through various forums.
At least one contemporary publication shines some light on the subject: La Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique, a contemporary newsletter that ran from 1753 through 1790. In September 1785 they reported:
The Barber of Seville was represented in the little theater of the Trianon, in the queen's intimate society, and it was deigned that the author was granted the distinguished favor of attending this representation. It was the queen herself who played the part of Rosine, the comte d'Artois that of Figaro, M. de Vaudreuil that of Count Almaviva; the roles of Bartolo and Basil were played by the duc de Guiche and M. de Crussol respectively.
(Original French page: http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/images/grimm/grimm_jpeg_12/425_grimm_v12.jpeg)
I also found various mentions online to August 19th, 1785 as being the day that Le Mariage de Figaro was supposedly performed at the queen's theater. The roles listed as being played by Marie Antoinette (Rosine) and the comte d'Artois (Figaro/le Barber) were also present in Beaumarchais' 'Barbier de Séville,' which 'Correspondance littéraire' notes as being performed during that time period, though it didn't specify the exact date.
I think it is a case of crossed wires by 19th century historians and writers, intentionally or otherwise, reporting that 'Mariage de Figaro' was performed instead of 'Barbier de Séville.' It's certainly more darkly ironic and punchy to write that Le Mariage de Figaro, subversive and critical of the monarchy as it was, was performed by Marie Antoinette in the dying years of the ancien regime than Barbier de Séville.
