MARAT/SADE Concludes Hilberry Theatre's 50th Season, Now thru 5/11

The inmates of the Charenton Asylum for the Insane are putting on a show for you: a historical review of sorts concerning the last days of French patriot Jean-Paul Marat, murdered in his bathtub by a delusional country girl during the chaos that followed the French Revolution. The cast is unique to say the least - their afflictions range from narcolepsy to nymphomania and everything in between - but they've been thoroughly rehearsed by their director and fellow inmate, one of history's most notorious outlaws, the Marquis de Sade.

After last season's Much Ado About Nothing, guest-director Matthew Earnest returns to the Hilberry, using dance and a score by Richard Peaslee, to explore Peter Weiss's seminal play of revolution and destiny. Earnest explains, "I don't think Marat/Sade 'deals extensively' with the French Revolution. I believe that Peter Weiss is reframing events and people from the time of the French Revolution to discuss his own time - the Cold War and the brutal, oppressive era of the Berlin Wall...I think we still struggle with individual liberties and the common good. People really are in control of their own destinies, and that's what this play is about. It's not a history lesson on the French Revolution any more than Macbeth is a history lesson on Scottish politics."

Fans of the recent Oscar-winning movie-adaptation of the famed musical Les Miserables and its subject matter of social plight and collective progress will not want to miss the chance to see these themes tackled in an avant-garde, live theatrical setting. While vastly different in approach, both explore similar themes using France's tumultuous century of revolution as inspiration and metaphor.

Cast: Alec Barbour (Kokol), Maggie Beson (Inmate), Miles Boucher (Holy Sister), Christopher Call (Holy Sister), Danielle Cochrane (Rossignol), Mackenzie Conn (Inmate), Megan Dobbertin (Simonne Evrard), Nancy Florkowski (Inmate), Brandon Grantz (Dupperet), Brent Griffith (Male Nurse), Rahbi Hammond (Inmate), Edmund Alyn Jones (Marat), Annie Keris (Cocurucu), Joshua Miller (Polpoch), Ty Mitchell (Inmate), Sarah Hawkins Moan (Inmate), Chelsea Ortuno (Inmate), Topher Payne (Herald), Joe Plambeck (Sade), Joshua Blake Rippy (Coulmier), Vanessa Sawson (Corday), and David Sterritt (Roux).

Production Team: Matthew Earnest (Director), Veronica Zahn (Stage Manager), Mercedes Coley (Assistant Stage Manager), Christopher Hall (Music Composer), Pegi Marshall-Amundsen (Scenic Designer), Samuel G. Byers (Lighting Designer), Mary Leyendecker (Costume Designer), Heather DeFauw (Sound Designer), Kimbra Essex (Property Master), Michael Wilkki (Technical Director), and Patrick Pozezinski (Publicity Design).

The Hilberry Theatre Company is the nation's only professional theatre company that is staffed by graduate students and runs on a rotating repertory schedule. Each academic year, about forty graduate students receive assistantships to work for the Hilberry Theatre and study for advanced degrees from Wayne State University. The company performs and produces an annual season of six plays, including high school matinees for nearly 6,000 students. For box office hours and information on performances, tickets, and group discounts and corporate packages, visit the theatre's website at www.hilberry.com. Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students.

Pictured: Edmund Alyn Jones (Jean-Paul Marat) and Joe Plambeck (Marquis de Sade). Photo Credit: Patrick Pozezinski.