Never one to do things by halves, the Merlin Theatre company director and Pembrokeshire College performing arts lecturer Simon Haslam has selected a tough choice for this year's summer production.

Marat/Sade tell the story of the fifteen years years that follow the French Revolution, through a band of inmates in a Parisian lunatic asylum, who perform a play about revolutionary leader Marat, under the direction of fellow inmate the Marquis de Sade.

Definitely not an easy choice, this in-your-face tour de force combines physical performance with musical numbers, leaving the audience shaken and stirred, probably confused, but definitely not bored.

It moves along at a cracking pace, is frequently raw and unpolished but buzzing with passion and emotion.

The student actors obviously love the physicality, and the verbal dexterity they need to display, and, generally, manage to convince the audience that they understand the difficult philosophical and political concepts they are so animatedly presenting.

They might not understand it themselves, but they can certainly act as though they do.

Unfortunately, as in any big production, there is the temptation for the larger-than-life characters to ham it up, and the actors need to rein in some of their more extravagant acting. A little restraint is often more effective than overblown performances. The most believable lunatics were often the ones quietly twitching in the corner.

However there was some seriously good acting on show - Douglas McDougall as Marat; Jenny Williams as the Marquis de Sade and Jodie Todd as the Herald should take an extra bow, and the four singers deserve a specific mention from some well-choreographed performances.

Despite being set almost 200 years ago, this production pulls out threads that will resonate with a modern audience. "We invented the Revolution, we just don't know how to run it" says Marat, while Sade's summing up of the revolution has echoes of the Third Reich - "Haven't we always experimented in our laboratories before applying the final solution?"

Bringing it bang up to date, and highlighted with a series of graphic images of a violent Britain, screened courtesy of the college's media students, Charlotte Corday obesrves: "We should all carry knives today, in self defence."

As ever the production team at the Merlin manages to extract every ounce from the script and every performer earns their place on the stage. The set alone is worth the admission price.

This isn't an easy play, for actors or audience, but as a complete theatrical experience, it doesn't disappoint.

The play runs at the Merlin from Wednesday to Saturday. Tickets available from Pembrokeshire College.

Cast list: Herald - Jodie Todd; Marquis De Sade- - Jenny Williams; Jean Paul Marat - Douglas McDougall; Simone Everard - Rebecca Regan; Charlotte Corday - Beverly Gill; Duperret - Gethin Morris; Roux (mad climbing boy) - Ben Fawcett; Coulmier - Kris Readings; nurses - Nikki Sutton, Aaron Davies Whitfield; Sisters - Hannah Whitney, Rachel Harries; Singers - Jonathon Jones, Daniella Colella, Michael Malone, Amy Lewis; Patients - Sophie Russell, Sophie Williams, Guy Smallwood, Hannah John, Lillian Williams, Serena Leigh. Acting Coach - Lloyd Grayshon; Set Design - Simon Haslam; Director - Simon Haslam; Musical Director -Clive Raymond; Costume - Wendy Dyer; Set Construction - Phil Lander.

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