{"id":5595,"date":"2013-02-20T16:36:48","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T20:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news\/gatenew\/?page_id=5595"},"modified":"2013-11-26T16:37:20","modified_gmt":"2013-11-26T20:37:20","slug":"on-stage-a-look-at-violence-sex-and-the-french-revolution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/on-stage-a-look-at-violence-sex-and-the-french-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: A Look at Violence, Sex and the French Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theatre dept. press release<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A
A scene from Marat\/Sade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Audience members at the production of Marat\/Sade<\/em>, which opens Friday, March 1, should expect to be brought into the environment of a juvenile detention center, the setting for the play.<\/p>\n

Performances are March 1 and 2, and 7 through 9, all at 8 p.m. in Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, Mendenhall Center.<\/p>\n

Marat\/Sade<\/em> is an exploration of class, madness, sexuality, violence and revolution (just to name a few.) The play tells the story of a group of inmates in post-revolutionary France who perform a narrative of the revolution\u2014filled with grizzly violence and biting truth. Through the lens of theatre, and both its transformative and destructive powers, this gripping story unfolds.<\/p>\n

Marat\/Sade<\/em>\u2014the shortened title for The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade<\/em>\u2014made waves when it debuted on the world stage in the mid-1960s. Exploring themes of violence, mental illness imprisonment and torture, the play was immediately controversial and described by Peter Brook, director of the famous RSC Production, as \u201cdesigned to crack the spectator on the jaw, then douse him with ice-cold water, then force him to assess intelligently what has happened to him then give him a kick in the balls, then bring him back to his senses again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Smith production, directed by Emma Weinstein \u201913, the play is set in a Juvenile Detention Center for Girls, with an all-female cast of actors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to explore the ways in which women relate to political revolution and violence, not just as victims but as perpetrators, participants, and philosophers,\u201d Weinstein says. The play will be an immersive experience for the audience, starting with their entrance to the theater through the loading dock and passing through prison checkpoints upon arrival.<\/p>\n

The play is also a musical, with a full score and on-stage instrumentation. \u201cThe music hits us on a different level,\u201d describes Weinstein. \u201cIt opens us up, it makes our hearts pound, it makes us laugh\u2014music is vital to the revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for <\/em>Marat\/Sade are $8, &5 for students and seniors; available online<\/a>, at the theater box office, or at the door.<\/em><\/p>\n

Emma Weinstein \u201913<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emma Weinstein is a theater major, graduating with an emphasis in directing. She is co-president of the Student Theatre Committee and has directed numerous productions at Smith, including a department production of Private Lives<\/em> by Noel Coward and the Student Theatre Production of Tis of Thee<\/em> last fall. Emma attended the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O\u2019Neill Theatre Center, where she co-directed the final project, an adaptation of Waiting for Lefty<\/em>, inspired by the Occupy Movement and generated by a 32-person ensemble. Emma has assisted numerous directors; interned at La Muse Artist\u2019s Retreat in Carcassonne, France; has been a member of the New Generation Theatre Ensemble for 8 years; and attended LaMama\u2019s International Directors Symposium in Italy. Raised in New York City and Los Angeles, Emma has also interned at the Chicago Director\u2019s Lab, Chester Theatre, and is currently the Publicity and Marketing Intern for the Smith College Theatre Department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theatre dept. press release Audience members at the production of Marat\/Sade, which opens Friday, March 1, should expect to be brought into the environment of a juvenile detention center, the setting for the play. Performances are March 1 and 2, and 7 through 9, all at 8 p.m. in Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, Mendenhall Center. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5595","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5597,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5595\/revisions\/5597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}