MARAT/SADE Schapiro Theatre Columbia April 2019

Taking on MARAT/SADE was no small feat for Anna. Meetings with Brian Kulick about the core issues of the text illuminated the ideological differences between Marat and DeSade. Marat believes our political structures could be "turned inside out" and "seen with fresh eyes" but only after total revolution. DeSade has seen what revolution does to humanity- he doesn't believe humans are capable of fundamental change. He believes humans are carnal, violent, and therefore need oppression. 
Anna's production pushed these two men further apart by casting a Ghanaian actor as Marat (Malcolm Opoku, in bathtub pictured below) and Nick Trotta (dressed in the finery of the ruling class). Malcolm had experienced revolution in Ghana- gas bombs at soccer games, running out with his family as a child. 
In this country, today, it is a struggle to envision what REVOLUTION would look like. In our current political climate, those that are benefitting off the existing structures still have the power; the same structures that are oppressing people of color. It was Anna's goal to open our ears to the political arguments of MARAT/SADE by having the revolution inside Charenton be a civil rights movement; the awakening of the men and women of color to their oppression. 

MARAT/SADE by Peter Weiss
Adapted by Anna Rebek & Emily Boyd Dahab
Dramaturgy by Emily Boyd Dahab
Original Music by Michael Wysong
Stage Management by Jianqiao Lu
Photos by Daniel Schaeffer
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