A different sort of play: Actors' Mission presents "Marat/Sade"

Many directors hope audiences will walk away from their plays with a particular feeling or thought. Shane Westfall hopes audiences walk away from “Marat/Sade” with that feeling being confusion, and that thought being “what did I just watch?”

“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,” usually shortened to “Marat/Sade,” is the Actors’ Mission’s latest production, directed by Westfall and opening this weekend.

“I'll be blunt,” Westfall said. “It's very strange show.”

A unique production

“It’s based on the Marquis de Sade, who was a real historical figure,” Westfall explained about the play. “We get words like ‘sadistic’ and ‘sadism’ from him. In real life, he was actually imprisoned in an insane asylum, and while he was there, we know that historically he used to put on plays there in the asylum. So this production is a play within a play in which the Marquis de Sade puts on a play about the French Revolution.”

The play is a vehicle for Sade and the character of Jean-Paul Marat, another real figure from French history, to debate their ideals. But because of the play’s format, and the context in which it’s set, things don’t stay conventional or even strictly historical. The characters often switch between characters or break character entirely, the script goes back and forth, and there are even scripted moments when characters have to be reminded what their line is.

“The audience never knows what’s real,” Westfall said.

With this format, Westfall not only emphasized “high energy and chaos” to his cast, but also gave them opportunities to make it their own with every performance.

“About half of what the audience will see as scripted, and about half is improv,” Westfall explained. “There are additional actors who are just playing inmates in the asylum, and I've told them I want them to play that differently every night. So each production is completely different.”

Westfall also wanted to make sure the actors weren’t just playing “a stereotypical crazy person,” so he had each cast member choose a specific mental disorder for their character and research it. He believes this gives a more convincing performance and is also more respectful to those who have mental disorders.

Playing such diverse characters in such a unique production presented new challenges and rewards for all the cast members, from those who’ve worked with Actors’ Mission before to those who haven’t been on the stage as many times.

A new experience

The range among the cast members can be seen in Amber Surbeck, playing Cucurucu, and Macie Byers, playing Polpoch, who often work together as “singers” in the production. This is Surbeck’s fourteenth production with Actors’ Mission, and Byers’ first in a main role.

“I came back after having breast cancer and was able to finally get back into acting,” Surbeck explained. “After a long hiatus, it's nice to be back.”

Byers, a high school student who is the youngest cast member, explained that she had a few very small roles in Actors’ Mission productions when she was young, and she’s done high school productions, but she wanted to branch out and try something new.

“I think this has been one of the biggest challenges but it's also been probably the funnest challenge because it gives me a chance to learn how to create my own characters,” Byers said.

Byers also took on the extra challenge of creating even more character for herself when she chose Dissociative Identity Disorder as the condition her character has. Surbeck chose for her character to be delusional.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Surbeck said. “You get to create your own little chaos.”

Surbeck and Byers also have both enjoyed working with new cast mates they’ve never worked with before. Those cast mates include the men playing the title characters, with Ryan Desmond playing Marat and Brian Marincic playing Sade.

Desmond has acted in two Shakespeare productions at Western Wyoming Community College and Marincic did some limited acting roles back in school, but it is the first time for both men to be involved with the Actors’ Mission and community theater. They also are both facing the challenge of playing characters who spend most of the play “pontificating,” as Desmond put it.

“This show is really unique, because it's got a lot of monologues, not as much interaction between characters,” Marincic explained. “The two leads are trying to win their argument, so it's more talking at each other. So that's been really different. You don't have that interaction. It's a unique setup. So it's kind of fun. It's fun doing something different like that.”

For Westfall, having so many new faces in the cast is an advantage.

“Everybody brought something new to the puzzle,” he said. “I think for community theater to thrive, we need to not only rely on people we know can perform, but also bring new people from the community in.” 

A pertinent message

All the cast members not only bring their own talents, but also their own perspectives, not only to the characters, but to the meaning of the play.

The play is set up as a format for discussing big ideas, with Marat and Sade arguing “about the meaning of society and the goods and bads of government and whether a revolution is something that requires us to stand up or whether a revolution is something that really happens in our head,” Westfall explained.

These ideas all touch on timeless themes, many of which are important and timely for the actors presenting them.

“I’m a retired Marine, so the idea of revolution and people standing up for themselves, that's something that is very truly near and dear to my heart,” Desmond said. “I think this is a play that has relevance, not only when it was written and not only contextually in the time period where it was at, but very much today, yesterday and probably tomorrow.”

Usman Humayun, who plays the rebellious priest Jacques Roux, also sees the play’s relevance, saying it “fits well with the current political environment” because it touches on the themes of polarization and opposing views and the need to learn to get together and figure out the differences.

At the same time, the play remains one that is unique and will be “different from what you usually expect,” according to Surbeck.

“Honestly, I think it's just gonna be a really fun show to watch,” Byers said. “I feel like we've definitely tried to put our whole heart and souls into these shows. And I know from watching other Actors' Mission shows that this one isn't going to fall short.”

“Marat/Sade” opens tomorrow night at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs and will have performances at 7 p.m. on September 22, 23, 29 and 30 and matinees at 2 p.m. on September 24 and October 1. Admission is free, and a free meal will be served one hour before the show.