Peter Weiss’s controversial and subversive play, “Marat/Sade,” will be performed Nov. 6-10 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Fine Arts Studio Theatre.
“Marat/Sade” contains language and themes, as well as scenes of a violent and/or sexual nature, that some may find objectionable. It is not recommended for younger audiences.
Tickets cost $14 for the public, $11 for senior citizens and $7 for students. For tickets and information, call (307) 766-6666 or go online at https://www.uwyo.edu/finearts/.
Directed by Rebecca Hilliker, Weiss’s 1963 play gained notoriety from the brilliant production directed by Peter Brook for the newly established Royal Shakespeare Company during its 1964 season. The play was made into a film in 1967 with many of the original performers from Brook’s landmark work.
“The play appeals to the audience because it speaks to contemporary society’s incessant pursuit of war. It … produces an unrelenting depiction of class struggle and human suffering at the hands of the rich,” Hilliker says.
Fully titled “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,” the play is better known by its truncated name, “Marat/Sade.” Set in post-revolutionary France, it uses historical characters and places.
The action occurs in the Charenton Asylum where the director encourages the infamous libertine and inmate Marquis de Sade to direct theatrical performances using inmates. The director thinks performing is therapeutic.
“The play asks whether true revolution should come from changing society or changing oneself, and whether the brutality of the revolution only perpetuates itself with more wars,” says Hilliker.
The UW Department of Theatre and Dance sponsors this event.
