Product Description

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 humanity must be set against the horrors of his imagination.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119836 in Books
• Published on: 1969-10-01
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 124 pages

About the Author
Peter Weiss was born in Berlin in 1916 and settled in Sweden before the war. Apart from his writing, he was a well-known painter, theatrical and operatic producer and he directed many films in Sweden. His dramatic reconstruction of the Frankfurt War Crimes trials, The Investigation, is also available from Marion Boyars Publishers. He died in 1982.

Customer Reviews

Simply amazing...
I'll admit, Marat/Sade is one of the most complex plays ever written, but it is a dream for any actor! I'm currently playing the Marquis de Sade in the play, and i've never been so challeneged in all my life! For the majority of the roles, not only do you need to play the character, you need to play the inmate of a lunatic asylum playing the character! For example, the inmate playing Jean-Paul Marat suffers from Paranoia, which must be taken into consideration during characterisation.
If you want to get the essence of the play, watch the DVD of Peter Brook's highly acclaimed RSC production. However, the play is so personal and powerful, the DVD does it no justice. Although the english translation still holds the power and Artaudian beauty (if that's a word!), it's not a patch on the German version. Trust me, i've seen extracts from the original production directed by Weiss himself - it's sheer brilliance!

To sum up - Marat/Sade has everything you could ask for. Whippings, Sex Maniacs, Aristocrats, Lunatics and even uses Commedia Dell'Arte techniques for the Four Singers! Artaud would have been very proud...

From a Drama Student
The play itself is very complicated. You will need to have read your back ground on the french revolution. The lack of punctuation, with its cleverly rhymed sentences adds to the perpective that you are actually there at the Asylum of Charenton. The language used is very very difficult to understand and it helps reading bits over and over again. The best way to really enjoy this play is to act this out using the way of Stanislasky, Bertold Brect and Artaud. These Techniques can be used in a variety of ways and you can understand the out come of the Plat Within a Play which is really individual.