Nicholls State University - La Pirogue Yearbook (Thibodaux, LA)

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Q . P 'X' -,. by'Claire Clements ' Talbot Theatre became an insane asylum complete with 30 inmates as the Nicholls Players presented their spring production. Marat-Sade. The play. which has as its complete title. The Persecution and Assassina- tion of lean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Char- enton Under the Direction of the Mar- quis de Sade. ran for four nights. I Dr. Mel Berry. associate professor of speech. directed the play. with techni- cal direction and design provided by Creg Mullins. assistant professor of speech. Paul Mathis. instructor of music. conducted the eight-piece orchestra. Written by Peter Weiss. the play is a debate between the ideas of individual- ism tSadel and proletarian revolution tMaratl. interrupted by song. mime and ravings of the inmates. The setting is the French asylum of Charenton. fifteen years after the French Revolution. Most of the actors portray the double roles of inmates and characters in the play produced by Sade. The play began with the house lights still up and two ofthe inmates tSalyria Cumms and Donald Robichauxl wan- .X l.ui.ilii,al gli-um lights the eves ol Sade tRav Roy l tluriug his deliate with Marat. 4 22 'M U.: - ' y -rt M W ' ,ya , i' . .+ dering through the audience. A third inmate. Wan Boudreauxl escaped from the asylum's male nurses tRodney Quates and 'Lenny Tullyl and had to be brought back to the stage in chains. As the play continued. the audience frequently was distracted from the debate between Marat tHurst Bouse- gardl and Sade fRay Royl by the out- burst of Roux fLoyal Duetl. a radical priest: the announcements by the Her- ald. portrayed as a clown by Ronnie Blanchard: and the songs led by the four singers tKathy Pertuit. Tim Mor- vant. lohn McConnell and Ieanne Vid- rinel. Comic relief was provided by Duperret tl-Edward Broul. an erotomanic who continually fondled Charlotte Cor- day tAnne Caljourl. and the two nuns tHerbert Touchard and William Terre- bonnet. Other members of the cast were lace Bergeron. Sparkles Iones. Iudi Richard. Benny Stiegler. lohn Collier. Dale Kel- ley. Lea Ann Smith. Perry Martin. Ion Deckert. Susan Breaux. Kendra Eschete. and Leslie Deiean. All ofthe 30 actors remained on stage for the entire two-hour production. with each actor displaying symptoms of various types of mental illness. Berry described the play as challenging for the student actors. most of whom had no theatre experience. 4 .-Xt the end of the play. the inmates gather around the mlm-.ul Marat. -is 'X me x, fa A ' W , fiisrfg ew , 1 , ' '- ,-VV t is 'J I 'vl .1 . -x. 1 44. designed bv Mullins. After the asylums of the time. he created to give the atmosphere off' depression. he said. A The set made use of theatrical light- ingi over a hundred yards of burlap. rough furniture. a guillotine and other special effects. Aging and texturing techniques were used on the props. and a combination of liquids and dye pro- duced realistic blood. Sound effects. such as screams and guillotining sounds. were made by the small orchestra. The musical score allowed for improvision by the musi- cians. In addition to the music department. various other departments in the col- lege of liberal arts were involved in the production. Dr. Max Quertermous. pro- fessor of English. and members of the psychology department assisted in developing realistic characterizations for the actors. The play also was dis- cussed in various classes. such as phi- losophy. humanities and speech. The actors were confine'd'?:iby ,Q . B Y Xa Marat tllurst Bousegardl writes in his bathtub. to which he is confined because ofa skin disease. 2 . WI. , . .1 ,N .,u-,W ,, 4- ethod to their Pmadness Nicholls Playa rs 151

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