Skit – French Troubles
Narrator: Ladies and gentlemen, we are now to perform a play about the French Revolution, one of the most
important and influential events of world history. The first scene takes place at Versailles, in the palace of the
French king, Louis the 16th. The king is meeting with his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, and two of his ministers,
Turgot and Necker. The year is 1789, and they are discussing the economic crisis that France is suffering.
Necker: Your highness, my king, the royal finances are in terrible shape!
Turgot: Yes, my king, Monsieur Necker is right. The nation’s debts are rising higher and higher. We must cut
expenses and raise taxes on the wealthy.
Necker: Turgot and I agree, my king: We must tax the royal treasury as well as the nobility, your highness. It is the
only way to put the budget in order.
The Queen: This is preposterous!! Cut royal expenses!! Tax the king and queen!! Preposterous!! Such an act would
violate God’s will!
Necker: My Queen, are you the voice of God? Do you speak for Him?
The Queen: God has given my husband and I the right to rule over you and all of France. No one may question this.
The King: Please, try to focus on the issue at hand. Our finances are in terrible shape. My predecessor, Louis the
14th, dreadfully mismanaged our money. And our loans to the Americans, to help them in their fight against
England, did not help matters.
Turgot: So true, your highness! We must tax the royal treasury and cut back on royal expenditures. As well as levy
an income and property tax on the wealthy.
Necker: Indeed, the wealthy pay nothing in taxes yet hold the majority of wealth and land in this country. Surely,
we can all see that making the peasants and working class pay high taxes is unfair and not working. All we ask is
that the wealthy pay their fair share.
The Queen: How dare you! We are the king and queen of France! We rule in the name of God and no one can tell
us otherwise. You will not tell us how to spend our wealth.
Necker: My queen, I beg your pardon! But the people are very angry. There are many now who say that your life
of luxury is a slap in the face to the French people! They say you buy a dress every other day.
The Queen: Outrageous! Such talk is treasonous! And I buy two dresses every other day. It is foolish to listen to
ordinary people.
Turgot: Madam, please. It is the ordinary people who you tax and whose money you use to live this life of luxury.
The King: I want to do what is right for my people but I just do not know how. Heck, I would prefer not even to be
king. The stress is too much.
Narrator: A messenger from Paris enters with news from France’s judicial court
Messenger: My lord, we have just received word from our top judicial court that it is improper to tax the nobles.
While you as king do have the right, it could lead to many nobles deciding not to support you. As we know, you
rely on them for maintaining the peace and raising armies.
The Queen: Well, you see. We cannot tax the wealthy. God be praised and long live the monarchy.
The King: Actually, he said I could but….
The Queen: My lord, if you please. Sometimes you speak on matters that you should not. Come now. Do not make
a fool of yourself.
The King: Tell me, you came here to Versailles all the way from Paris, how are the people? I know it has been
rough on them during these past harvests which have yielded little crops.
Messenger: May I speak candidly my lord?
The Queen: No!
The King: please go on.
Messenger: The people are starving. The workers cannot afford bread. Because of the bad harvests, there is only so
much and the prices have gone up. Women are starving along with their children. They seek reform. They seek
change. If you will simply lead them, they will follow you. You have not lost the respect of the people yet. You can
turn this country around if you embrace reforms. All we ask is for more equality especially when it comes to taxes
and having some freedom to voice or opinions.
The Queen: We are a country of 26 million. Perhaps, it would benefit the economy if some die then there would be
fewer mouths to feed.
Necker: Perhaps, it would benefit the country if the Queen did not spend the taxpayer’s money on jewels and
outfits. Perhaps then we could feed those who are starving.
Turgot: Necker, may I remind you that you are addressing your queen. Respect is warranted.
The King: You must forgive my wife. Sometimes she speaks before thinking. My heart goes out to my fellow
Frenchmen; however, I cannot go against the nobility.
Necker: What then are we going to do to prevent this nation from spiraling off the fiscal cliff? The Roman Empire
was once great and now it is no more. One must wonder if we are on the same path.
The Queen: Do not listen to that silly Protestant, my dear husband. Necker is but a fool compared to our moral and
intellectual superiority.
Necker: And you wonder why the people hate you, my queen.
The King: I’ve got it! I will do what has not been done in over 150 years. I will call the Estates General together. I
want to have representatives from all three estates – clergy, nobility, and peasants – to meet and come up with
reforms to these problems. Hopefully, they can work together to fix the economic issues of this nation.
The Queen: It is times such as these that I question why I married you and wonder if the money is still worth it.
You should not have to go and ask help from the people who fall to the ground and worship you.
Necker: My dear king, this will require a great deal of leadership on your part. Are you up to the challenge?
The King: If I could be somewhere else right now I would be, so to answer your question – I’m not sure. At least
we only want to reform taxes and not change the government like those crazy British and Americans.