Review: Marat/Sade

The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of the Marquis de Sade (more commonly known as Marat/Sade) is a dark and complex ‘play with music’, which should absorb and challenge audiences.

Described as ‘a play within a play’, the setting has been modernised to an asylum centre and the inmates are re-enacting the events leading up to the assassination of Marat during the French Revolution.

The many themes are still as relevant today as during the French Revolution and when the play was written in the 1960’s. Audiences will be propelled to ask who controls the markets, the governments and who profiteers from war. The plight of asylum seekers is harrowing; the violence, the suicides and the hopelessness overlooked by governments and the community. Have countries been dragged into revolution knowing nothing about their principles, and ultimately have they fought for those who now exploit them? Does money and greed rule the world? How important is freedom?

This play is performed by a remarkable cast of over 20 performers, which includes Lyn Collingwood (best known from Home and Away). The radical staging consists of a large cage confining the cast, who portray a strange assortment of characters burning with energy. In between monologues they effectively break away into songs which resonate the themes and timeless lessons of the play.

This is a dramatic theatrical production which will evoke laughter as the comedic elements of the play transpire, leading to an eruption of emotions as the main themes are revealed in the explosive finale. (MMo)

Until Nov 5. New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown. $27–$32. Tickets & info: www.newtheatre.org.au