The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade , almost invariably shortened to
Marat/Sade, is a 1963 play by
Peter WeissPeter Ulrich Weiss was a German writer, painter, and artist of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays Marat/Sade and The Investigation and his novel The Aesthetics of Resistance....
. The work was first published in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
Incorporating dramatic elements characteristic of both Artaud and
Bertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, it is a bloody and unrelenting depiction of class struggle and human suffering which asks whether true revolution comes from changing society or changing oneself.
Plot
Set in the historical
Charenton AsylumCharenton was a lunatic asylum, founded in 1645 by the Frères de la Charité in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, now Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France....
, now l'Hôpital Esquirol,
Marat/Sade is almost entirely a "play within a play". The main story takes place on July 13, 1808, after the French Revolution; the play directed by
de SadeDonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
within the story takes place during the Revolution, in the middle of 1793, culminating in the assassination of
Jean-Paul MaratJean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution...
(which took place on July 13, 1793), then quickly brings the audience up to date (1808). The actors are the inmates of the asylum, and the nurses and supervisors occasionally step in to restore order. The bourgeois director of the hospital,
CoulmierFrançois Simonet de Coulmier was a French Catholic priest and abbot, and the director of the Charenton insane asylum in France in the early 19th century...
, supervises the performance, accompanied by his wife and daughter. He is a supporter of the post-revolutionary government led by
NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, in place at the time of the production, and believes the play he has organised to be an endorsement of his patriotic views. His patients, however, have other ideas, and they make a habit of speaking lines he had attempted to suppress, or deviating entirely into personal opinion. Suffice it to say that they, as people who came out of the revolution no better than they went in, are not entirely pleased with the course of events as they fell.
The infamous
Marquis de SadeDonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
, the man after whom
sadismSadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
is named, did indeed direct performances in Charenton with other inmates there, encouraged by Coulmier. De Sade is a main character in the play, conducting many philosophical dialogues with Marat and observing the proceedings with sardonic amusement. He remains detached and cares little for practical politics and the inmates' talk of right and justice; he simply stands by as an observer and an advocate of his own
nihilisticNihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
and
individualistIndividualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
beliefs. One of the most powerful scenes of the play depicts him being whipped on his own instructions, and such bold scenes are not alone, nor confined to the predilections of the
MarquisMarquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
himself.
Musical Score
Marat/Sade is a play with music. This follows much in the path of Bertolt Brecht where the songs comment on themes and issues of the play. Unlike a traditional musical format, the songs do not further the plot or expositional development of character in the play. In contrast, they often add an alienation effect, interrupting the action of the play and offering historical, social and political commentary.
Richard Peaslee-London:*the Peter Brook / Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Marat/Sade, A Midsummer Night's Dream, US and Antony and Cleopatra;*Peter Hall / National Theatre Animal Farm;*Terry Hands / RSC Tamburlaine the Great;...
composed music for the original English-language production of
Marat/Sade directed by
Peter BrookPeter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
. Although there is no official score to the play in any language, the success of the Brook-directed
Royal Shakespeare CompanyThe Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production and film caused the Peaslee score to be popular for English-language productions. Sections of the Peaslee score have been included in trade copies of the Skelton/Mitchell English translation (based on the text used for the Royal Shakespeare Company productions). The full score is available from ECS Publishing/Galaxy Music Corporation. The original Royal Shakespeare Company production was so popular that some of the songs from the show were recorded as a medley by
Judy CollinsJudith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
on her album
In My LifeIn My Life is an album by American folk singer Judy Collins, released in 1966. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1967....
.
Recordings of the songs were made by the cast of the original Royal Shakespeare Company production and film. The first recording of the show was a three LP set released in 1964 by Caedmon Records. This was a complete audio recording of the original
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production. The second release was a single
soundtrack albumA soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
LP of the film score, released by Caedmon/United Artists Records.
The third release was a CD compilation of two 1966 Brook/Peaslee Royal Shakespeare Company productions:
Marat/Sade and US, released by Premier Recordings. The songs, as included on the CD released by Premier Recordings in 1992:
- Homage to Marat
- The Corday Waltz
- Song and Mime of Corday's Arrival in Paris
- The People's Reaction
- Those Fat Monkeys
- Poor Old Marat
- One Day It Will Come to Pass
- Poor Marat in Your Bathtub Seat
- Poor Old Marat (Reprise)
- Copulation Round
- Fifteen Glorious Years (interpolating the "Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
")
- Finale
This track list omits Royal Anthem (which appears on all other recordings) and does not specifically mention The Tumbrel Song either individually or as a part of Song and Mime of Corday's Arrival in Paris. The cast of this recording includes
Patrick MageePatrick Magee was a Northern Irish actor best known for his collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, as well as his appearances in horror films and in Stanley Kubrick's films A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.-Early life:He was born Patrick McGee in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern...
,
Glenda JacksonGlenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
, and
Freddie JonesFrederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
. (The accompanying production,
US, is about an American soldier "zappin' the [Viet] Cong" in the Vietnam War.)
Productions
In 1964, the play was translated by Geoffrey Skelton with lyric adaptation by
Adrian MitchellAdrian Mitchell FRSL was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British anti-authoritarian Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's anti-Bomb movement...
and staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Peter Brook directed a cast that included
Ian RichardsonIan William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
as the herald,
Clive RevillClive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
as Marat,
Patrick MageePatrick Magee was a Northern Irish actor best known for his collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, as well as his appearances in horror films and in Stanley Kubrick's films A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.-Early life:He was born Patrick McGee in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern...
as de Sade, and
Glenda JacksonGlenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
as
Charlotte CordayMarie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont , known to history as Charlotte Corday, was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed under the guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who was in part responsible, through his role as a politician and...
.
After two previews, the
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production opened on December 27, 1965 at the Martin Beck Theatre and ran for 145 performances. Richardson took over the role of Marat, while Magee and Jackson reprised the roles they had originated in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The play won the
Tony Award for Best PlayThe Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
, and Brook was named
Best DirectorThe Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play...
. Additional awards went to Magee for
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayThis is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. The award has been presented since 1949.-1950s:* 1951: Eli Wallach – The Rose Tattoo* 1952: John Cromwell – Point of No Return...
and Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss for her
Costume DesignThese are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals...
. Jackson lost the
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayThis is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
to
Zoe CaldwellZoe Caldwell, OBE is an Australian-born actress.-Early life:She was born as Ada Caldwell in Melbourne, Australia and was raised in the suburb of Balwyn in Yongala Street. Her father, Edgar, was a plumber and her mother, Zoe, was a taxi dancer. Caldwell's mother, Zoe, had a Peugeot of 1950 vintage...
. It also won the 1966
New York Drama Critics' CircleThe New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 24 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley...
Award for Best Play.
In Australia, the play was directed by Edgar Metcalfe (1966) at the Playhouse Theatre in Perth. It played for 6-weeks. The cast included Alan Lander as Marat, Eileen Colocott as Charlotte Corday. Other cast members included Peter Collingwood as the Marquis de Sade, James Beattie, Rosemary Barr, Peter Morris, Chris Johnson, Ken Gregory, and Roland Rocchiccioli. The set was desgined by Ted Dombowski.
Other notable productions
- In November 2000, Theatre of N.O.T.E.
Theatre of N.O.T.E. is an award-winning, critically acclaimed theatre company located in Los Angeles, California.-Description:The Theatre of N.O.T.E. describes itself as a non-profit democratic company...
presented the play in Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, under the direction of Brad MaysBrad Mays is an independent filmmaker and stage director, living and working in Los Angeles, California.-Background and education:...
, and utilizing a painstakingly reconstructed version of the original verse text used by Peter Brook and the RSC in their legendary production.
- An all-male, all-black 2007 production of the play was presented at the Classical Theatre of Harlem
The Classical Theatre of Harlem is a professional theatre company founded in 1999 at the Harlem School for the Arts. CTH is the only year round theatre company operating on an AEA LORT contract in Harlem, and presents a world repertory ranging from Euripides to Derek Walcott...
in New York, under the direction of Christopher McElroen.
- In 2009, Edinburgh High School got 3rd place at state UIL One-Act Play for their adaptation of this play.
- In 2011, the Royal Shakespeare Company staged a revival of the play as part of the company's 50th anniversary celebrations. The revival was directed by Anthony Neilson and ran from the 14th October to the 11th November.
Film adaptation
The 1967 film adaptation utilized the long version of the play's name in its opening credits, although this was frequently shortened to
Marat/Sade in publicity materials. The
screenplayA screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was written by Adrian Mitchell. Brook directed a cast that included Richardson, Magee, Jackson,
Clifford RoseClifford Rose is a British classical actor.He was born in Herefordshire. He was educated at the King's School, Worcester and King's College London, before appearing in rep and with the Royal Shakespeare Company....
, and
Freddie JonesFrederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
.
In the same year, the play was produced for West German
ARDARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
television, becoming the first German television play to be produced
in colourColor television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....