Should change begin in society or in the individual? Marat and Sads / Raksts will meet in a clash of opinions at the National Theater

German dramatist Pēters Weiss wrote the play in the sixties of the last century, it already belongs to the classics, translated into many languages, staged in many places, but is very little known in Latvia.

In the play, spoken texts and poetry intertwine with songs, music and a special movement score, the original music was composed by Edgars Mäkens for the National Theater performance.

The action of the play takes place in the psychiatric clinic of Charenton, where the notorious and scandalous writer Marquis de Sade actually spent the last years of his life. Seeing it as art therapy, the head of the clinic allowed him to stage plays he had written there, in which the other patients of the clinic took part.

In the performance, we can take a look at one of de Sade’s productions – the musical performance about the murder of the leader of the French revolution, Jean-Paul Marat, his death in the bath, which Jacques-Louis David also depicted in his famous painting “The Death of Marat”. Marat was killed by Charlotte Corday, who is also one of the heroines of the show.

The very form and expression of the play presupposes that the production must also be non-traditional or unaccustomed, as described by the directors Klāvs Mellis and Rūdolfs Gediņš.

“Despite the fact that the topics that are raised are philosophically loaded and heavy, in terms of form we have gone in the opposite direction.

Weiss already predicted this in his play, that it is a kind of unaccustomed holiday celebration. It is also easier to offer these texts to people,” Gediņš said.

“We wanted it to be an unrehearsed, musical experience. Most of the actors in this show have been learning to play the accordion throughout rehearsals, as the show will have an accordion orchestra on stage singing and singing and falling and rising and does everything that needs to be done,” adds Mellis.

The audience also witnesses a heated discussion between Marat and Sada as they discuss the meaning and consequences of the revolution, including the questions – is justice and human equality even possible in this world?

The role of the Marquis de Sade is played by Ināra Slucka, who talks about, in her opinion, the most important questions of the show: “These are reflections on who is what? What is more important – the egg or the chicken? I have formulated for myself that the opinion of the Marquis de Sade is, that first a person must become free internally and only then he can be free externally. Marat, on the other hand, believes that first this external freedom, this revolution that overthrows everything, and only then can arrive at internal freedom.

So such a clash of two views. They say about the show, it is an opera for the weak, but I think it is more of a happening.”

The premiere of the play “Marats/Sads” can be seen on Thursday, April 25, at the National Theatre. Cast: Ināra Slucka, Kārlis Reijers, Indra Burkovska, Matīs Budovskis, Ivars Kļavinskis, Daiga Kažociņa, Anna Klēvere, Ance Kukule-Sniķere, Laura Siliņa, Līga Zeļģe, Roman Bargais, Mārtiņš Brūveris, Raimonds Celms, Artis Drozdovs and Egils Melbārdis. Artistic team: directors – Rūdolfs Gediņš and Klāvs Mellis; translator Sylvia Brice; playwrights – Arvis Viguls, Klāvs Mellis, Rūdolfs Gediņš; singer Arvis Viguls; scenographer, costume designer and make-up concept author Adrian Toms Kulpe; composer Edgars Mäkens; lighting artist Oskars Pauliņ; producer Anna Vekmane.