Marat/Sade Tour October and November 2008

01.10.2008

Marat/Sade Tour October and November 2008

 THEATRE WORKSHOP PRESENTS

The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of The Marquis de Sade

By Peter Weiss

  • TOURING TO GLASGOW, LOCHGELLY AND EDINBURGH

  • ROBERT RAE DIRECTS AN ENSEMBLE CAST FEATURING WELL KNOWN DISABLED ACTOR NABIL SHABAN

  • FULLY ACCESSIBLE LARGE SCALE PROMENADE PIECE FEATURING VIDEO VISUALS AND SIGNING PERFROMERS

  • MANY OF THE TEAM BEHIND THE SUCCESSFUL THREEPENNY OPERA 

  • SET IN THE ICONIC YEAR 1968

 

Edinburgh 01/10/08: Theatre Workshop is pleased to announce their latest tour throughout Scotland with a large scale production of Marat/Sade. After the disappointment of SAC funding cuts and the subsequent appeal being upheld Theatre Workshop is confident that this large scale promenade piece will be a success. The production reunites many of the creative team behind 2004’s critically acclaimed Theatre Workshop production of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera.

Theatre Workshop artistic director Robert Rae will direct the UK’s foremost disabled actors Andrew McLay and Nabil Shaban, who will play Jean Paul Marat and the Marquis de Sade respectively, in the play which opens on 23rd October at Tramway and then tours to Lochgelly and Edinburgh. A new score has been written by Mikey Cameron and features rock’n’roll music inspired by the year Theatre Workshop has chosen to set it in - 1968.

Originally set in post-revolutionary France, Marat/Sade is as relevant today as it has ever been. Theatre Workshops production is set in the iconic year, 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the liberation of Prague and most importantly for this play, the May Paris protests. Widespread strikes and unprecedented student protests makes Paris in 1968 the perfect setting for such an explosive production. The production underlines the correlations between 18th Century post-Revolutionary France, the turbulent 1960s and the uncertain times we live in today.

In keeping with Theatre Workshops inclusive and accessible ethos all the performances will be fully accessible to deaf and hard of hearing audiences through captioning and signing performers. Theatre workshop will also have audio description available - visually impaired audiences should contact venues to see if there is audio description available.

Robert Ray says - "After a year of making a film and then battling the Arts Council just to get a fair hearing - its great to get back into production - I love the rehearsal process. I'm very excited as to how Marat-Sade is developing - the decision to set the play in 1968 feels good and helpful in making the play live again for today's audience and with capitalism self-destructing before our eyes - what better time to talk about revolution and idealism. It’s a fantastic play - reminding me every day why I'm passionate about live theatre. I've got a fantastic cast - the most talented and the most diverse I've had the pleasure of working with - the music rocks and every day we get to contemplate revolution and "deviant" sexual practices - what fun!"

 

Tramway, Glasgow 0845 330 3501 www.tramway.org

  • 23 October 7.30pm                                        
  • 24 October 7.30pm
  • 25 October 2.30pm       7.30pm (touch tour and audio description)            

Lochgelly Centre, Lochgelly 01592 583 303 www.attfife.org.uk

  • 30 October   7.30pm                                      
  • 31 October   7.30pm
  • 1 November 2.30pm       7.30pm                   

Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Tickets through Usher Hall 0131 228 1155 www.usherhall.co.uk

  • 13 November 7.30pm                                    
  • 14 November 7.30pm
  • 15 November 2.30pm      7.30pm (touch tour and audio description)      

All performances will be signed and captioned. Tickets £10/6

Ends

For information, interviews and images please contact Kirsty Tough // ktough@twe.org.uk // 0131 226 4366 // 07971590315

Notes to editors:

Theatre Workshop Edinburgh was founded in 1965. In the last eleven years under the artistic direction of Robert Rae, Theatre Workshop has seen much success in creating innovative, challenging theatre such as DARE, Threepenny Opera and Endgame. In 2000, Theatre Workshop became the first professional producing theatre in Europe to include professional disabled actors in all main house productions. Theatre Workshop is well known for its unique and critically acclaimed community theatre (Black Sun Over Genoa, Babylon Burning [Another lovely War]) and recently made its first feature film, Trouble Sleeping, which has been shown at numerous film festivals (including EIFF) and won a BAFTA New Talent Award.