Note: This theatre critique of 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 (Marat/Sade) is for my THEA170 class assignment.
Seeing two performances of Marat/Sade one week apart on the 1st and 8th of November really helped the play sink in. One of the first things I love about this play was the costume design. Having seen the sketches in the costume shop several weeks ago, it was amazing to see them physically implemented. Since the play within the play took place in an asylum, the resources were very limited. I love how the costumes and props were made from scrap papers and medical supplies: blue latex gloves as laces, syringes for headwear, marker drawings on white pants to imitate breeches, etc. While their T-shirts said ‘Charenton’ on the back, one of the the inmate’s had red crayon words written across, only to be covered by duct tapes halfway through the show. I guess that was a hint of oppression. Of all the inmates’ costumes, only de Sade’s coat was nice. He was, after all, the playwright, the one in charge of the play, and the one distracting Coulmier in the end. Since everything circles around him, his good overcoat also symbolises his power.
The use of the stage space was really immersive with the traverse stage and actors rousing the audience with revolution uproars in the aisles. Even though Coulmier is supposed to be the one overseeing the asylum, the platform on which he and his family sat was nothing compared to the stage in front of the supposedly hidden cage. Marat’s bathtub is also elevated so that Coulmier is in fact in low elevation. Also, during the riot at the end, Coulmier was stripped away of his coat and that also symbolises stripping away power. The play also includes many sexual contents such as Duperret raping Charlotte Corday, de Sade’s sexual advances on other characters as well as dolls and masturbation during his speech, Simonne grinding with Marat on the bars of the cage after the riot (as the two were obviously intimate throughout the play), the breakdown of class barrier as Coulmier’s wife makes out with Kokol, making it even more intense within the ongoing revolution.
During the talkback after the performance on November 8th, I also learned more about the preparations of how the actors got into their characters. They talked about giving background stories to each inmate so that each and every one of them are different: they ended up in the asylum due to different reasons, and different things happened to them during their time there. They also talked about how the guest director Laura Hackman always made sure they check into their characters and check out at the end of each practice and performance. The cast also worked hard to make sure everyone is okay from slipping in and out of characters so drastically different from who they really are. I feel like the inmates were so convincingly insane that, at times, it was difficult to watch. As for the character Duperret, who was sort of modelled after Lord Byron with the floppy hair, coat, and hat, the relationship with Charlotte Corday was complicated with abusive raping as well as sick romance.
As I watched the play for the second time, I was able to pay more attention to what was going on on stage. We can see Coulmier’s wife and daughter getting visibly disturbed as Duperret raped Corday, and how the inmates acted around each other even when they were not the ones talking. The lighting was also very special because the main colours were bluish white and yellowish orange, a close resemblance of the school colours.
I think this is by far the most absorbing Illinois Theatre productions I have seen even though I do not think I have fully understood the plot. In particular, I love the diversity of the cast in terms of gender identities. Left with a lot to think about after seeing Marat/Sade, I am already looking forward to the next production Hit the Wall next semester. [1&8 Nov 2018]
Cast & Crew
Laura Hackman (Director)
Zev Steinrock (Fight Director)
Jessica Renae Steinrock (Intimacy Director)
Eleni Lukaszczyk (Scenic Designer)
Will Sturman (Costume Designer)
Tony Rajewski (Lighting Designer)
Hayat Dominguez (Sound Designer)
Mark Kennedy (Properties Master)
Melissa Hall (Hair/Makeup Coordinator)
Zeenah Hussein (Stage Manager)
Mark Quiles (Technical Director)
Katherine Syer (Dramaturg)
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Patrick Weber (Marquis de Sade)
Gabriel Herzog (Jean-Paul Marat)
Marlene Slaughter (Herald)
Katelynn Shennett (Simonne Evrard)
Katelin Dirr (Charlotte Corday)
Nona Lee Porter (Duperret)
Nico Krauss (Jacques Roux)
Ethan Perry (Kokol)
Leojae Payton (Polpoch)
Alice Cashman (Cucurucu)
Kathleen Sullivan (Rossignol)
Charlie Bauer (Coulmier)
Erin Ryan (Coulmier’s Daughter)
Zoe Nemetz (Coulmier’s Wife)
Latrel Crawford (Inmate)
Miranda Johnson (Inmate)
Caitlin McDermott (Inmate)
Uche Nwansi (Inmate)
Will Burke (Inmate)
Shelby Dorsey (Nun)
Julia Gold (Nun)
Jenna Kohn (Nun)
Lily Newton (Nun)
Phillip-Andrew Monnett (Guard)
Bennett Smith (Guard)