Marat/Sade

The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade

Peter Weiss, Adian Mitchell, Geoffrey Skelton, Adian Mitchell, Geoffrey Skelton

• Publisher: Marion Boyars
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780714503615
• eBook ISBN:
  9780714520018
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

No play by a German since Brecht has enjoyed the success of Marat/Sade, and its author Peter Weiss has emerged as one of the most remarkable of the post-war generation of German writers. This English version by Geoffrey Skelton and Adrian Mitchell was the text used in Peter Book's brilliant production for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which was undoubtedly the theatrical event of 1964 in London. It has also been produced all over the world by the most outstanding directors - Konrad Swinarski in Berlin, Ingmar Bergman in Stockholm, Roger Planchon in Paris, and many more.

The RSC's work in establishing Antonin Artuad's conception of 'Theatre of Cruelty' found its climactic expression in this powerful and savage play, in which the discipline of verse heightens the emotional impact. The combination of sheer entertainment, Sadean philosophy and the range of theatrical shock techniques leaves the audience limp but excited at the end of the evening. The published text allows the reader to see how skilfully the author has dramatised the paradox of Sade, a black saint whose hjumanity must be set against the horrors of his imagination.

THE PERSECUTION AND ASSASSINATION OF MARAT AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES OF THE ASYLUM OF CHARENTON UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE

Drama in two acts by PETER WEISS

CHARACTERS

MARQUIS DE SADE	sixty-eight years old, extremely corpulent, gray hair, smooth complexion. He moves heavily, breathes at times with difficulty, as if asthmatic. His clothing is of good quality, but worn. He is wearing white breeches with bows, a wide-sleeved white shirt with ornamental front and lace cuffs and white buckled shoes.
JEAN-PAUL MARAT	in his fiftieth year, suffering from a skin disease. He is draped in a white cloth and has a white bandage round his temples.
SIMONNE EVRARD	Marat’s mistress, of indeterminate age. The player of the role is wearing a hospital uniform, with an apron and a headcloth. Her posture is crooked, her movements odd and constrained. When she has nothing to do, she stands wringing a cloth in her hands. She seizes every opportunity to change Marat’s bandage.
CHARLOTTE CORDAY	aged twenty-four. Her clothing consists of a thin white blouse of Empire cut. The blouse does not conceal the bosom, but she wears a flimsy white cloth over it. Her long auburn hair hangs down on the right side of her neck. She wears pink leather boots with high heels, and when she is ‘on stage’ a ribboned hat is tied to her. She is attended throughout by two sisters, who support her, comb her hair and arrange her clothes. She moves like a somnambulist.
DUPERRET	Girondist Deputy. The player of the role wears in addition to his hospital shirt a short waistcoat and the smooth tight trousers of an ‘Incroyable’. His clothing is also white, with some ornamentation. He is held in the mental home as an erotomaniac, and takes advantage of his role as Corday’s lover at every suitable opportunity.
JACQUES ROUX	former priest, radical Socialist. He wears a white hospital shirt with an overall shaped like a monk’s robe. The sleeves of his shirt are tied together in front of him over his hands, and he can move only in the limits of this strait-jacket.
THE FOUR SINGERS KOKOL, Bass POLPOCH, Baritone CUCURUCU, Tenor ROSSIGNOL, Soprano	Part crowd types, part comedians. They have decked out their hospital uniforms with grotesque bits of costume and wear the cap of the revolution. Rossignol, with her tricolour sash and sabre represents the figure of Marianne. They have singing voices and perform in mime.
PATIENTS	as extras, voices, mimes and chorus. According to need they appear either in their white hospital uniforms or in primitive costumes with strong colour contrasts. Any not required in the play devote themselves to physical e...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Marat/Sade: A Students’ Introduction by Gill Lamden
• Introduction by Peter Brook
• Cast List for the First English Performance, August 20, 1964
• The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade
• Literal Verse Translation of the Original Text
• Author’s Note on the Historical Background to the Play
• Music Composed Specially for the First British Production