For the Man Who Plays Lafayette, It’s a Marquis Event

On a recent sultry Monday, Mark Schneider pulled up to a stable in Williamsburg, Va., ready to get back to the grind, 18th-century style.

He was already wearing his leather breeches and ruffly linen shirt. After preparing his horse, he went back to the car for his waistcoat, swords, wig and plumed hat, before hoisting himself into the saddle and heading toward a grassy field near the town’s restored colonial-era courthouse.

Tucked in his jacket was a cellphone, for emergencies. He also carried a period-correct flask full of water, for discreet hydration.

“I wouldn’t want people to see the Marquis de Lafayette drinking from a flask and get the wrong idea,” he said.

For the past 25 years, Schneider has worked at Colonial Williamsburg portraying the French aristocrat who arrived in America at age 19 and became a hero of the American Revolution. But for “Marquis Mark,” as friends jokingly call him, this has been an especially historic summer.