KINGSTON, RI—September 29, 2011 –The University of Rhode Island’s Department of Theatre will open its season with the dramatic production of Marat Sade.
The show will run Oct. 13 throught 15 and 20 through 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct 16 and 23 at 3 p.m. in the Robert E. Will Theatre in the URI Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus. General admission is $16, $12 for seniors, URI faculty/staff, and $10 for students. Tickets can be purchased by calling 401.874.5843 beginning Oct 3 or online at www.uri.edu/theatre.
Marat Sade: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as peformed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marguis De Sade is a play-within-a play and is not historical drama. It’s thought is as modern as today’s police states and “the bomb”; its theatrical impact has universally been called a major innovation. It is total theater; philosophically problematic, visually terrifying, it engages the eye, the ear and the mind with every imaginable dramatic device, technique and stage picture including song and dance. It asks: Are the same things true for the masses and for their leaders? And where, in modern times, lie the borders of sanity?
In 1809 at the Charenton Mental Asylum, an invited audience waits to witness a drama about the assassination of French Revolutionary Jean Paul Marat. The play, written and directed by the institution’s most notorious resident, the Marguis De Sade, centers around his argument that an individual does not find meaning through politics but rather through acts of spontaneous passion and desire.
Peter Weiss’ play-within-a-play combines startling graphic and violent images with political discourse and upbeat songs and music. Influenced by the great German director and playwright, Bertolt Brecht, the play moves toward its shocking climax while dealing with themes of revolution, power and human frailty.
The show is directed by Alan Hawkridge, URI lecturer, (The Foreigner, Amadeus and The Taming of the Shrew); costumes by David T. Howard, associate professor; sets by guest artist Kathryn Kawecki; lighting design by Christian Wittwer, associate professor; sound design by guest artist Mike Hyde; musical direction by Andrew Burnap, junior theatre major.
Actors, their character, and their hometowns follow:
Actor, Character, Hometown
Miles Boucher, Maquis De Sade, Coventry
Andrew Burnap, Jean Paul Marat, South Kingstown
Josh Andrews, Coulmier, Coventry
Emily Foster, Simonne Evrard, Hartford, Conn.
Kira Hawkridge, Charlotte Corday, Pawtucket
Birk Wozniak, Duperret, North Kingstown
Sam Appleman, Jacques Roux, Springfield, Mass.
Travis Greene, Herald, North Kingstown
Marc Tiberiis, Patient, Pawtucket
Benjamin Hill, Patient, Hartford, Conn.
Erick Bettancourt, Patient, Providence
Daren DeFrank, Patient, Hartford, Conn.
Danielle Dube, Patient, Providence
Allie Meek, Patient,Providence
Nora Eschenheimer, Musician, Newport
Alex Maynard, Musician, Pawtucket
Justin Morrison, Guard, North Kingstown
Louis Perrotta, Guard, South Portland, Me.
Phillip Ryng, Guard, Jamestown
Americo Lanni, Guard, Johnston
Annalee Cavallaro, Daughter, Barrington
Lauren Hanson, Mother, East Greenwich
Shannon Hartman, Rossignol, Coventry
Aaron Weininger, Kokol, Middletown
Josh Christensen, Cucurucu, Warwick
Andrew Chafee, Polpoch, Barrington
Christen O’Connell, Nun, Newport
Catherine Poirier, Nun, Willimantic, Conn.
Alexander Walsh, Nun, North Salem, N.Y.
Pictured above
University of Rhode Island students Emily Foster of Hartford, Conn., Andrew Burnap of South Kingstown, Miles Boucher of Coventry, Americo Lanni of Johnston and Kira Hawkridge of Pawtucket star in the URI production of Marat Sade. The show will run Oct. 13 through 15 and 20 through 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 16 and 23 at 3 p.m. in the Robert E. Will Theatre in the URI Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus. General admission is $16, $12 for seniors, URI faculty/staff, and $10 for students. Tickets can be purchased by calling 401.874.5843 beginning Oct 3 or online at www.uri.edu/theatre. URI photo by Randy Osga.