The Marat/Sade

ETB Productions return to the Fringe this year with The Marat/Sade, written by Peter Weiss. The play portrays the last days of Jean-Paul Marat and his French Revolution through the eyes of the Marquis de Sade, with a cast consisting of female mental patients.

The downtrodden and mentally challenged characters convey the message of the revolution in an engaging if easily distracted manner. They have their own ailments to deal with, including paranoia and narcoleptic fits, whilst the critical Sade watches them closely.  

It would be a travesty to claim that ETB does not contain some very talented young actors; the performance is strongly delivered and the actors cope well with a little black box as their stage. However, such an ambitious play may not have been the best choice for the company. The young actors thrive in the deeply philosophical parts, and for that they deserve credit, but their talents are misdirected towards moments of overwhelming power, which lend the play an intensity it can’t quite handle and doesn't need.

The direction also seems ill-considered at times, with much unnecessary back-and-forth on the small stage. Unfortunately, with the play also appearing like a dream-within-a-dream, this shifting makes it difficult to understand whether we are watching the play, or a production within it.

It is an interesting hour, with strong performances that unfortunately suffer from an overly ambitious script.