The full name being "the Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of Monsieur de Sade"
was written by Peter Weiss. Weiss was a german/ czechoslovakian Jew who lived in Germany. He was originally a visual artist and painter but began writing after his family fled Germany during the Nazi Occupation. All of Weiss's works, like "Marat/Sade" are influenced by Brecht and written to comment on social and political issues. Some of his other works are "Trotsky in Exile," "Vietnam discourse," and "The investigation." “Marat/ Sade” was originally performed in West Berlin at the Schiller Theater in 1964. The show however did not become well known until Peter Brooke, a british director, staged the show that year at the Aldwych Theater in London. Brooke later brought the show to New York. The show received many different reviews, some saying that the show was little more than “shock theater,” others acclaimed the piece. It recieved several awards including a Tony Perry Award, a Lessing Preis Award, and a Drama Critic’s Circle Award for best play.
Weiss said, of his own work, “I myself think that the art should be so strong that it changes life, otherwise it is a failure.”
- How do Coulmier’s frequent outbursts and demands effect the message of the show?
- Charlotte’s character is described as a fairly ambiguous character who almost sleepwalks through the performance. Do you think this is a trait of the character in the Sade’s show or is it an effect of the patient who plays her’s disease?
- How does the Play within a Play style of this show help to impress its meaning upon the audience (not Coulmier and his family)? How is this Brechtian?
- What is the significance of Coulmier ordering the nurses to beat the patients into submission at the end of the play?
- How does Sade feel about the Revolution as made evident by his conversations with Marat?
- It is said that an audience member actually died while watching this show, while many others fell in disgust. How do you think this play would effect you if you saw it performed live?
- Why is Marat’s struggle and inability to write his thoughts so meaningful to the show?
The prisoners at the asylum chant throughout the entirety of the show “... we need a revolution now!” Do you believe this is a line in Sade’s script or a plea from the inmates at Cherenton?
- Roux has many issues with the church, as seen in his frequent outbursts. How do you think his prior affiliation with the church he criticizes effects his character’s message?
- Marat believed that society must change for humanity to change. Sade believed the self must be changed for society to change. Who was right?
