Danton's Death
by Georg Büchner
in a new version by Howard Brenton
Background pack
The National's production
2
Introduction The protagonists 3
The events of the play 6
Elliot Levey on playing Robespierre
9
Extracts from the rehearsal diary
11
4
Photo (Toby Stephens) by Hugo Glendinning
Poster designed by Charlotte Wilkinson
Further production detailsls:
nationaltheatre.org.uk
This background pack is
published by and copyright
The Royal National Theatre
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Reg. No. 1247285
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Views expressed in this
workpack are not necessarily
those of the National Theatre
Director
Michael Grandage
Discover
National Theatre
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London SE1 9PX
T 020 7452 3388
F 020 7452 3380
E discover@
nationaltheatre.org.uk
Workpack writer
Lisa Spirling
Editors
Emma Gosden and Ben Clare
Design
Lisa Johnson
Rehearsal and production
photographs
Johan Persson
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1
The National’s production
This production of Danton's Death opened
in the National’s Olivier Theatre on 22 July 2010
Dantonists
Georges Danton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Toby Stephens
Legendre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Zhangazha
Camille Desmoulins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barnaby Kay
Lacroix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gwilym Lee
Hérault-Sechelles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Bennett
Julie, Danton’s wife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kirsty Bushell
Lucile, Desmoulins’ wife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca O’Mara
Marion, a prostitute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eleanor Matsuura
Members of the Committee of Public Safety
Robespierre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elliot Levey
Saint-Just. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alec Newman
Barère. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phillip Joseph
Collot d’Herbois. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chu Omambala
Duplay, Robespierre’s landlady. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith Coke
Eléonore, Duplay’s daughter . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca Scroggs
Elisabeth, Duplay’s daughter. . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Nestor
Herman, President of the Revolutionary Tribunal . . Michael Jenn
General Dillon, prisoner in the Conciergerie. . . . David Beames
A Lyonnais . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ilan Goodman
Citizens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefano Braschi
Jason Cheater
Emmanuella Cole
Taylor James
David Smith
Jonathan Warde
Toby Stephens as Georges Danton
Photo by Johan Persson
Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Grandage
Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paule Constable
Music and Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adam Cork
Company Voice Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeannette Nelson
Staff Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa Spirling
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2
Introduction
Danton's Death is the astonishing début
play of Georg Büchner written in 1835 when
he was just 21. Set in 1794 at the bloody
climax of the French Revolution, the play
charts the final days of the revolutionary
Danton as he faces the demons of his past
and his ever present struggle for survival.
Robespierre, previously a friend but now
sitting in judgement has the heavy task
of deciding Danton's fate and a titanic
struggle begins. The play is of such scale
that it is infrequently staged in the United
Kingdom but with it's historical weight, vivid
characters, exceptional rhetoric and universal
themes of the basic rights of man it presents
an irresistible challenge for a director and
their creative team.
This production, in an adaptation by Howard
Brenton, seeks to encapsulate the energy
and life force of revolutionary times with an
exhilarating on-rush of scenes that builds
in momentum to a brutal finale. Staged without
an interval and within a flexible space, there is the
intention that the revolution should feel right outside
the walls and that those involved are doing all they
can to keep up and stay alive. The play and this
production celebrates the art of rhetoric and what it
is to live in a time when theoretical discussions and
arguments drove men to action and to changing their
country.
This background pack gives you an insiders' look
into the rehearsal process, the research and the
ideas that went in to putting the show together. The
pack includes an outline of the happenings of the
play both on stage and off, along with interviews and
extracts of the rehearsal diary to give an insight into
how this production built up to what we see on the
Olivier stage now.
Lisa Spirling
Staff Director
Toby Stephens in Danton's Death
Photo by Johan Persson
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3
The protagonists
Georges Danton
Camille Desmoulins
As a leading figure in the early stages of the
A revolutionary journalist who became part
French Revolution he was the first President of
of Danton’s inner circle. He wrote the political
the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in
pamphlets La France Libre and Vieux Cordelier.
the onset of the Revolution has been disputed;
Having attended the same school as Robespierre
but many historians describe him as the chief
they were once close friends and Robespierre was
force in the overthrow of the monarchy and the
the godparent of Camille’s child.
establishment of the First French Republic. By 1794
he was a moderating influence on the Jacobins, he
Lacroix
was guillotined by the advocates of revolutionary
A lawyer described as having “loud lungs and a
terror after accusations of venality and leniency to
hungry heart” (Thomas Carlyle). Part of Danton’s
the enemies of the Revolution.
close circle of friends.
Robespierre
Hérault-Sechelles
One of most influential figures of the French
A politician, president of the Legislative Assembly
Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre dominated the
and the Convention who affiliated with Danton.
Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental
As a member of the Reign of Terror's Committee of
in this period of the Revolution, known as the Reign
Public Safety, Hérault was chiefly concerned with
of Terror which ended with his own arrest and
diplomacy. Hérault was accused of treason, and
execution in 1974. His supporters called him "The
after being tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal,
Incorruptible".
was condemned at the same time as Danton.
Danton, Robespierre and Marat in a wine shop © Bettman/CORBIS
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4
The protagonists (continued)
St Just
Barrere
A close ally of Robespierre he served with him on
A politician and journalist who became a member of the
the Committee of Public Safety and was heavily
National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety. In
involved in the Reign of Terror. Anything Robespierre
March 1794 he was part of Robespierre’s faction. He was
wanted to get done St Just was sent to do it.
to be the last surviving member of the committee of Public
Safety.
The Duplays
Robespierre resided within the Duplay Household
Julie
and was tended to by Madame Duplay and her
Danton’s wife. Danton was actually married twice. There is
daughters Elizabeth and Eleonore.
no mention of this in the play and in staging the play we have
taken Julie to represent his first wife, imagining that she did
Collot
not die.
A prominent figure on the Committee of Public
Safety, having been previously an actor and
Lucille
an essayist, he administered the execution of
Camille’s wife.
more than 2’000 people in Lyon and supported
Robespierre in his usurping of Danton.
Marion
A prostitute based at the Palais Royale.
Toby Stephens in Danton's Death
Photo by Johan Persson
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5
The events of the play: onstage and offstage
Events in italics do not take place on stage. This
gives context for the company to fill in the gaps
of what is talked about in the play or relevant
historical events of the period.
Discover more about this period:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror
23 March Robespierre and Danton are together at
the Montagnards (a political group apposing the
Girondists).
24 March The Herbetists have been guillotined.
Discover more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
H%C3%A9bertists
25 March: Day One in Danton’s Death
Legendre, Camille, Lacroix and Hérault have come
from the Place de la Revolution where the guillotine
executions take place.
Act 1, scene 1
It is early evening, around 6pm. Danton, his wife
Julie and his friends (the Dantonists) are enjoying
themselves at the Palais Royale. Danton gives a
sense of his apathy towards the Revolution and his
Danton (Toby Stephens) and Julie (Kirsty Bushell)
Photo by Johan Persson
rally them to action in defence of the Revolution in
Lyon. Legendre (a Dantonist) speaks of the need for
action in Paris; Collot (a member of the Committee
desire for the killing to stop.
of Public Safety) assures him that the Revolution
26 March: Day Two of Danton’s Death
Robespierre speaks to the Club, making it clear that
In the morning, immediately before Act 1 scene 2,
the Paris mob attacks an aristocrat; Robespierre
breaks it up and deals with the extremists. Elisabeth
and Eleanore witness it.
Act 1, scene 2
At around midday Robespierre speaks to his
landlady, Madame Duplay, about the mob attack.
Throughout the scene he is aided in getting ready to
go to the Jacobin Club by Madame Duplay and her
daughters Eleanore and Elisabeth.
Discover more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobin_club
Act 1, scene 3
Approximately 2pm at the Jacobin Club. A Jacobin
is in full flow and they have a handle on things.
his new enemy, after getting rid of the Herbetists,
are the moderates and the lovers of vice. Without
naming names, it is clear Robespierre is referring to
Danton.
Discover more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_
of_public_safety
Act 1, scene 4
Lacroix tells Legendre off for speaking at the
Jacobin Club and for putting the spotlight on the
Dantonists. Lacroix tells Legendre that he is going
to find Danton at the Palais Royale, probably with a
prostitute.
Herault has gone to see Robespierre at the Tuilleries.
from Lyon speaks to the group in an attempt to
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6
The events of the play: onstage and offstage
(continued)
Act 1, scene 5
Legendre arrive to try and convince Danton to
Approximately 6pm, at the Palais Royale. Danton
act in his defence against Robespierre. He leaves
and Marion (a prostitute) are kissing; Marion tells
them all to go to the Palais Royale and insists the
Danton of her first experience with a man and
committee will not dare to arrest him.
reaffirms the epicurean principle that what matters
St Just has spent the day getting other signatures
is what gives you pleasure.
from the Committee of Public Safety for the
At some point that afternoon St Just sees Danton at
warrant for Danton’s arrest.
the Palais Royale surrounded by prostitutes and the
Act 2, scene 3
crowd.
10pm at the Tuileries Palace (Offices of the
Act 1, scene 6
Committee of Public Safety). Robespierre is at
Robespierre works late at the Tuileries Palace.
work. St Just brings the warrant for Danton’s
9pm, Tuileries Palace (Offices of the Committee of
arrest, requiring Robespierre’s signature.
Public Safety)
Act 2, scene 4
Robespierre and Danton argue. Danton leaves.
10.30pm at the Palais Royale.
St Just arrives and they discuss the tactical attack
Danton, Camille, Lucille and others, are in limbo,
on Danton.
discussing a play. A warning arrives that the
Committee of Public Safety have decided to
Danton goes to speak to the people on the ground.
arrest Danton.
Danton leaves for the country.
Act 2, scene 1
Herault leaves for the Tuileries Palace.
Middle of the night at Danton’s home. Danton has
Lacroix goes to the raly people on the ground.
a night terror about his actions in the September
massacres; Julie (his wife) comforts him.
28 March: Day Four in Danton’s Death
Herault is arrested and imprisoned at the
27 March: Day Three in Danton’s Death
Luxembourg Palace.
Act 2, scene 2
Early morning, around 8am, at Danton’s house.
29 March: Day Five in Danton’s Death
The Dantonists; Lacroix, Camille, Herault and
30 March: Day Six in Danton’s Death
Act 2, scene 5
Having been in the countryside for a few days,
Danton decides to take action and return to Paris.
31 March: Day Seven in Danton’s Death
Act 2, scene 6
Daytime. Some deputies in the National
Convention discuss the threat that Danton’s
arrest poses to them. Legendre appeals to the
Convention that Danton should be tried by
them rather than the revolutionary tribunal. He
wins their support, until Robespierre and St
Just intervene and demand that Danton should
have no special privileges and that this stage of
Lacroix (Gwilym Lee) and Danton (Toby Stephens)
Photo by Johan Persson
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7
The events of the play: onstage and offstage
(continued)
the revolution with all its bloodshed is necessary.
Act 3, scene 6
Danton must be tried like everyone else.
At the same time, Danton, Lacroix, Herault and
Act 3, scene 1
Camille are placed in a tough prison called the
Luxembourg Palace (which has been turned into
Conciergerie in between the 2nd and 3rd session.
a prison for political prisoners). Danton and the
St Just goes to write the emergency decree.
Dantonists are arrested and imprisoned. They meet
Act 3, scene 7
General Dillon, a Girondist who went into hiding
Collot and Barrere look over the emergency
when the Girondists were purged and was then
decree that St Just has created. Herman panics
caught. He challenges Danton about his previous
slightly about the outcome of the 2nd session and
actions, arguing that all Danton has done and said
prepares to go into the final one with a decree that
has come back to him now.
stops Danton’s right to defend himself.
1 April: Day Eight in Danton’s Death
The third session of the revolutionary tribunal.
Act 3, scene 8
Danton is stopped in his defence by the decree.
2 April: Day Nine in Danton’s Death
He challenges the committee and is dragged off
Act 3, scene 2
with his fellow Dantonists. St Just speaks to the
At the Tuileries. Collot and Herman conspire to
crowd and poisons them against Danton and
select reliable anti-Danton jurors to decide his fate.
encourages them to follow Robespierre.
Julie’s servant Madeline is present at the tribunal.
3 April: Day Ten in Danton’s Death
Act 4, scene 1
Act 3, scene 3
Julie speaks about Danton and how they are killing
The Revolutionary Tribunal, session 1.
him out of fear. She gives her locket to Madeline to
Danton stands up to Herman. The jury reminds all
pass to Danton, saying she won’t see him like this.
present what he has achieved for the Revolution
and demand that his accusers appear. The session
is suspended and the crowd support Danton.
5 April: Day Twelve in Danton’s Death
Act 4, scene 2
4am. Knowing these are their last hours alive the
4 April: Day Eleven in Danton’s Death
Dantonists talk through the night about life and
Act 3, scene 4
loss.
Julie reads what the newspaper says about the first
Act 4, scene 3
session.
Lucille is outside the prison, calling out for Camille.
Session 2 of the Tribunal starts.
Act 4, scene 4
St Just has immediately taken the President of the
The 'Final Four' are in the Conciergerie on the
Tribunal’s (Herman’s) notes to Robespierre once
morning of their execution, supporting and
the second session ends but Robespierre doesn’t
energising each other. The warder arrives to take
respond.
them to the guillotine.
Act 3, scene 5
Act 4, scene 5
Members of the Committee of Public Safety (Collot,
Julie makes a farewell to her life and to Danton as
Barrére and St Just) meet to discuss Danton and
she prepares to join him on his final journey.
the second session and what to do next. They
Act 4, scene 6
decide to write an emergency decree.
At the Place de la Revolution, Camille, Herault,
Lacroix and Danton are executed.
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8
Elliot Levey on playing Robespierre
What kind of research did you undertake into the
life of Robespierre?
When you read more than one historical book, you
see the same facts displayed. It’s day one of modern
history. Just about everything he says in his speeches
has survived, often second hand, but fairly accurate.
They are more or less verbatim versions of his
speeches, which read as if they were written giving
you an insight into how he delivered his speeches.
One of the recurring themes in research is that he is
clearly not very good at public speaking. He had a
terrible voice, was absurdly timid and a very nervous
public speaker. What’s interesting about Robespierre
and very revealing about his character is that he was
clearly nervous but would then talk about his fear.
For a massive political figure who reached that power
he must have had absurd courage or oddity to talk
about his shortcomings: that was the most exciting
moment in research. When you read and read it’s all
very interesting, but when you’re researching to act
it’s a very different part of the brain. The acting bit
of the brain kicks in and you are drawn to elements,
which the ordinary reader might not find most
interesting. This little bit of insight into his psychology
is glorious for the actor. It shows you that he played
his vulnerability, which tells you as an actor that
the only way to talk about his vulnerability was to
counter it. It’s interesting, in The Habit of Art [by Alan
Bennett], the play I’ve just done, WH Auden says,
“style is the sin of one’s imperfections”. What does
that mean for Robespierre? It means that to posses
that kind of self-knowledge, to have that sense of your
shortcomings and to spin them and make something
bizarrely winning about them is so exciting. It’s exciting
because it’s what many actors are like.
good at spinning his own image we have no real idea.
Hilary Mantel in the novel A Place of Greater Safety
absolutely tickles out the idea that there’s homosexuality,
or bisexuality or his confused sexuality and there’s every
indication that he was sexually in love with Camille,
possibly with Danton.
What happens when you’ve done the research?
What happens when you’re done researching and you’re
absorbed in the rehearsal process is you massively reject
history. Its necessary and its also really satisfying. You
shove loads of stuff in a metaphorical suitcase and you
get rid of it.
What’s Robespierre really like?
The best thing I read was Hilary Mantel writing a review
of Ruth Scurr’s biography of Robespierre and its very
clear. Mantel says it emerges that for Robespierre “the
incorruptible was also the unpredictable. He was a
vociferous bundle of contradictions. He idealised the
people and distrusted profoundly anyone who tried
Did your research paint a very different picture of
the character to the play?
If I was researching Robespierre, not playing him,
would I have picked up with such interest, certain
traits I picked up? I’m understanding Robespierre
through Buckner and Brenton to a certain extent. In
our play there’s no talk of him being a bad orator, in
fact he’s good. To a certain extent he wins people over
with the power of his oratory. If you’re a Stanislavskian
actor and you do your homework you go to a play and
list all the references that other people say about you
and what you say about yourself, so what was really
interesting is that so many people say things about
Robespierre when he’s not there. Some of them have
to be true and many of them in this play are. They’re
historically and theatrically true and all the interesting
things about him are said when he’s not in the room.
How the actor and the director choose to play with
them or disregard them is something to be found in
rehearsals. An example: Julie and Danton talk about
Robespierre’s lack of sex. The truth is we don’t know.
He may have been a sexual beast and he was so
Elliot Levey in Danton's Death
Photo by Johan Persson
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Elliot Levey on playing Robespierre (continued)
to speak for them. He distrusted the very structures
of representation that he had to put in place. He saw
power and he despised it.” He was timid, physically
unappealing – he doesn’t look like a revolutionary. Lots
of people fell in love with him. He was a very vain little
man. He was a very prissy clothed man with his little
wig. People were cutting their hair short and embracing
rugged clothes. When I was a student in the early 90s
the middle classes wore donkey jackets and aped
the working classes. You reject the bourgeois for the
accoutrements of the working class. He doesn’t follow
the trend. Robespierre had the sense of self-awareness.
“I’d feel like a burke if I conformed” he probably thought.
What do you want the audience to think of him?
It’s a question I can’t really answer. What does he want
the people in the play to think of him? Even in the middle
of the most climactic moment in history he always had
his eye on posterity. It’s like that moment when Tony
Blair said “the hand of history was on his shoulder”. The
fact that he said that made it hysterical. It’s like having a
moment about writing your memoirs in your memoirs. It’s
that awful meta-theatrical thing. Both of the big speeches
he has are almost verbatim - from the day it takes place.
Why had Buchner cut and pasted these speeches in the
way that he has? Robespierre’s speeches were written
by him to have an effect. He’s not obviously speaking of
Danton, but the play acts at being subtle, but does it in a
brilliant crude way, which is delightful but difficult to play.
How do you play bad acting?
Europe. He campaigned for the abolition of the death
penalty and slavery. Even giving voting right to Jews
and actors, who at the time were despised. He was a
hugely liberal spirit. He was originally a pacifist but then
he had to save the revolution. Buchner was a revolutionary but not in a revolutionary time. He was writing in
the 1830s so it was recent history. Danton’s mistresses
were probably still alive. It’s like writers talking about
Thatcher now.
What’s changed since you first got the script to the
end of rehearsals?
The change hasn’t been revolutionary but it has been
evolutionary. What I’m doing now is connected to day
one but massively evolved and defined. There will be
further refinement in performance.
What is your process?
It varies from show to show, but I don’t have a process.
And the only rule is there are no rules. Michael Grandage was keen for lines to be learnt before rehearsals. It
means you can start rehearsing much sooner. It means
you have to do lots of homework so the lines you are
locking down you’ve got are right. You do spend the rest
of your time unpicking. Being cast early, I could churn
my way through Eric Hobsbawm, Ruth Scurr and Simon
Schama without having to worry about the script, then I
read the script a lot, made all those instinctive decisions,
then just read more until just before rehearsals. I stopped
reading academically then started reading actorly. It requires the opposite of academic rigour: empathy, feeling,
looseness.
Also for Buchner Robespierre has a theatrical function.
He is the antagonist. He stops at the end of act 2 and
disappears. He is a classic device in that way, albeit a
fully fleshed interesting device. You could just play him
as the baddie and yet he was the most fantastic champion of the universal rights that we talk about today. He
was calling for legislation for all sorts of things such as
universal suffrage - things we take for granted in Western
Elliot Levey in Danton's Death
Photo by Johan Persson
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10
Extracts from the rehearsal diary
The journey from day one of rehearsals to the
Act 1 scene 1
technical week on stage is impossible to capture
At this stage, the actors are given complete freedom
fully. If you asked any of the company on opening
to cross the room if they want, and to interact with
night for the minutiae of how we got there, they
different groups. The cast consider a variety of
would be hard pushed to explain it all in detail.
options, including:
1. Does every character in the room know each
However, the notes on the following pages – made
other?
throughout rehearsals – are highlights of some of
2. Does your character belong to the Palais and are
the ideas, discussions and inspiration that took
you there to serve?
place, interspersed with information that gives
3. Are you drinking?
a sense of how some rehearsal days panned out.
4. What has gone on in the moments before?
Week One
Everyone was asked to make a note of what they all
Monday
did.
Director Michael Grandage and designer
Christopher Oram talk through the model box with
the company of actors. Key ideas include the use
of light as a major indicator of time-of-day and
location. Along with this is the use of sound to
create the world surrounding the play, outside and
inside.
We work through the play on its feet and in the
space immediately. One of Michael's main methods
of working is to have the actors explore the text
within the space, this helps to get us out of the habit
of working in our heads on the text, to lift us off the
page and in to the play. The rehearsal room is set
up with a replica skeleton structure of what we will
have on stage. We look at each scene briefly to see
what initial ideas and instincts come about.
By immediately looking at the scenes in situation
the sound designer Adam Cork is able to spend
the first week seeing the whole play worked on (as
opposed to working through it slowly, sitting around
a table) in order that he and Michael can discuss
composition and the arc / shape of the piece.
Michael Grandage in rehearsal
photo: Marc Brenner
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11
Extracts from the rehearsal diary (continued)
Act 1, scene 2
Act 1 scene 3
Background and asking questions
Background and asking questions
It was a big decision for Michael Grandage and
We share company research about the Jacobin
playwright Howard Brenton (who wrote the
Club. It started as a moderate club and heralded
adaptation) to remove the mob from the play:
the beginning of political parties. You would pay
Büchner was influenced by Shakespeare in the
for membership, but the clubs weren’t legislative.
writing of the mob. We have been mindful that in
The Jacobins would vote to print something and
taking it out, we didn’t want to lose their presence,
that pamphlet would take on a political agenda
as they are key to understanding the play.
and then be on the streets. There is the question
of is it dangerous to be in attendance here – or the
This is a scene that Büchner didn’t write: Brenton
opposite, if you are not here it arouses suspicion. A
has taken the events in the original and turned them
sense of 'you are either with us or against us!'
into a reported domestic scene that introduces us
to Robespierre and the women (the Duplays) who
We talk about what it is to be in the same room
worshipped him. The scene is set at the Duplay
or in the company of a political leader. Whatever
house where he had lodgings. Madame Duplay
your political leanings, being in their presence often
adored Robespierre and it was his sanctuary.
impacts on you, so you can feel like a 'rabbit in the
headlights'. This scene demonstrates Robespierre’s
position in society and so how the listeners focus on
him is vital.
Act 1 Scene 5
Background and asking questions
Discussions of the inner life of the play come out of
the scene being spoken out loud in situ with actors
able to make discoveries as they play the scene and
not just through textual analysis.
The scene opens with Danton and his prostitute
Marion. Marion’s speech illustrates epicurean
philosophy, the philosophy of pleasure that the
politics of the play is built upon.
Toby Stephens, playing Danton, expresses that
‘She articulates what I am already feeling, she is not
necessarily teaching Danton anything. He is already
leaning towards this way of thinking. It chimes with
something that is latent in him. It is like my escape.’
Toby Stephens (Danton) and Eleanor Matsuura (Marion)
in rehearsal
photo: Marc Brenner
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Extracts from the rehearsal diary (continued)
Act 1 Scene 6
Robespierre’s virtue
Questions
The virtue mentioned in the play is not a direct
- What is the Timeframe and timing of this scene?
equivalent to the modern day English meaning of
- Where are we? We are at The Tuileries Palace
Virtue. For Robespierre it corresponds to his nature.
which is the office of the Committee of Public
There is a question of whether Danton’s embracing
Safety.
of indulgence and decadence is something that
- How much of this scene has happened when we
Robespierre cannot handle. Danton’s sensuality
join it?
gives Robespierre a cause to fight against and we
- Is it a point of tension, that is released by the
sense he took it all very seriously
opening line?
- How reluctant is Danton to be there?
Classical references as inspiration
- How big is their need to communicate?
The playwright references comparisons to classical
- Sound Design – there is a need to create
civilisations that were made throughout the French
something here that takes us out of the scene
revolution and not just in his version of events. The
before and brings us here, into the city.
Roman model of the republic was in many respects
the template for the French Revolution. Interestingly
Act 2 Scene 1
during the Russian Revolution they used the French
Background and Asking questions
Revolution as inspiration.
We see clearly here the impact of the September
Massacres on Danton and as a continuous theme
Act 2 Scene 5
throughout the play.
Background and asking questions
Danton is out alone in the open country. Whilst
Act 2 Scene 4
this is an exterior scene, it gives us an insight into
This scene is potentially a lull in the action where
the interior of him. There is a gloriousness to the
we see the protagonists waiting for something to
speech, it goes on a journey, has ambiguity but also
happen. This creates a strange tension that prompts
has it’s own arc.
the subject matter we see to be discussed.
It is interesting to look at why Danton does not act
and what is motivating him at this stage? Ideas
suggested are that presumably if he was to act even
more people would die, Danton is distressed and
tired of that. It also says something extraordinary
about the people surrounding him that no one else
steps up to lead.
Company discussions
Every few days the entire company are brought
together to discuss various key themes of the play,
such as the historical references, the political terms
and each of our various insights into the work.
Elliot Levey (Robespierre) in rehearsal
photo: Marc Brenner
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Extracts from the rehearsal diary (continued)
We embark on a discussion of Atheism and Danton’s
Act 3 Scene 6
connection with it. Is he experiencing nihilism and how
Discoveries on the rehearsal room floor
does that connect with him giving up?
As a company we have to get into the head of what
it must be like to be a part of something that is so
ACT 3 SCENE 1
much bigger than you. The closest we have to it is
Background and Asking Questions
9/11, knowing you are living something that is going
The actors who have played Deputies in the previous
to become historical. In these times people step up
National Convention scene now have to take on
to lead. We need to communicate these characters
another character, this has implications on their
existing and functioning in extremis: everything is on
through-line through the play and also costume. In
instinct. For example it is interesting that Lacroix looks
terms of the citizens (which is the word we use to
to God but Danton doesn’t. This scene is in some
describe the additional unnamed characters), Michael
respects a demonstration of how they each deal with
Grandage is keen that we have a continuous flow
their fear in approaching death.
of citizens to create the world of the play. These are
representative of hundreds of people all the time,
Act 3 Scene 8
however it is vital that in each scene the identity of each
Background and Asking Questions
character the actor plays is as clear to them as it is to
The Third Tribunal, which we join in full flow. We see
us. There is a sense that we are striving for fantastic
the Committee of Public Safety, use the decree to
clarity in each moment of the piece.
change the rules, end the tribunal and suggest that
the jury have enough evidence to make their decision.
When working through this scene it is great to discover
that it never settles; it is constantly active. It works well
At the beginning of the scene the crowd is
compositionally to have the existing prisoners start off
on Danton’s side but by the end via St Just’s
stage right as the others enter stage left, at which time
encouragement they are shouting in support of
the existing prisoners can gather round with Dillon,
Robespierre.
cutting through the greetings.
Discoveries on the rehearsal room floor
The scene demonstrates how this production
will work with an extraordinary level of collective
responsibility. In only half a page of text we can help
an audience understand the volatility of this period by
bringing to life exactly what happened when St Just in
Danton’s absence was able to turn the crowd.
In order for this extraordinary turnabout to work we
need to create an almost 'orchestral' style to the
crowd response. To achieve this we start with the
chant of ‘Danton Danton’ getting bigger and bigger
and closer into unison. Once the first citizen speaks
the actor must keep up the momentum but create
space for it to be heard. Then when St Just speaks
the actors must allow for the direction to be thrown
and potentially send their characters in different
directions.
Taylor James and members of the company in rehearsal
photo: Marc Brenner
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Extracts from the rehearsal diary (continued)
Week One
Act 2 Scene 5
Friday
Something that came out of today’s session was that
we shouldn’t give the impression that Danton has
The process is to work through the entire play each week
come to terms with his impending death. He goes
with an expectation that when we come pack to it we
close to it and then lets ‘they won’t dare’ energise it.
will have moved on and are able to build on all that has
Even the despair is fuelled by something more.
gone before. The company are invited straight into the
space and work through the scenes both physically and
Act 4 Scene 6
internally.
We discuss the final moments of the play and the
style in which the guillotines will take place. There is
Act 1 Scene 1
uniformity and sharpness to it that we hope will fit with
Background and Asking Questions
the style of the play.
The company are asked to consider:
- Where have you come from?
- Why are you here?
Week Three
- What circumstances have you come from?
By week three of the rehearsals the play has been
- What is the imagined half page before we have joined
worked through in its entirety and each scene is
you?
building up in detail, emotional depth and momentum
every time we revisit it. Notes and ideas, as can be
Discoveries on the Rehearsal Room Floor
observed below, are fed in to various scenes as
In rehearsal we consider the practicalities of a three line
required.
opening encounter between Julie and Danton before the
entrance of the rest of the Dantonists. There is a need
Act 2 Scene 4
to hone in on the couple before the big entrance. From
The energy that opens this scene is proving quite
initially focusing on a couple, the men’s entrance opens
difficult to decipher. Potentially the scene could start
the whole room up.
in a silence that Herault feels compelled to break. This
idea is tried and then we play with the idea that the
scene opens and they are discovered in place in a
tense slightly feverish mode, awaiting news. Danton
is disconnected from this and when he tunes in to the
chatter it is to cut through it.
Once the news of Danton’s arrest comes through, a
shift occurs and the energy of the room transforms.
Act 2 Scene 5
We look at how Danton is revealed in the space, we
follow the idea that he would run on, stop for breath
and in the pause ruminate and decide to return. We
think about what makes him stop, is he deluding
himself, or is this the moment of clarity when he
decides to go back and fight.
Elliot Levey (Robespierre) and Toby Stephens (Danton)
photo: Johan Persson
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Extracts from the rehearsal diary (continued)
Act 3 Scene 3
Week Three
Michael Grandage talks to the company about the
Thursday
context and weight of this scene. In particular this is
the first moment where we see Danton being exactly as
Language of the Scene Changes
he is remembered historically. Technically we have the
The scene changes have a theatricality, fluidity and
responsibility of delivering the revolutionary leader how he
language of their own. Michael works with the company
is best known into his natural habitat.
and sound designer Adam Cork to create this language.
Michael takes time to work through with the company the
details of how each transition will work, so for example
light fading slowly on the final speaker in the scene,
windows opening, exiting, entering and scene starting.
This helps to ensure the company don’t feel vulnerable or
disjointed by the process.
Week Four
Thursday
At this stage the whole company are brought together
and congratulated on what has been achieved so far.
We start to run a few scenes together and sound is
introduced.
While there is time to look at all moments in detail as
required, we are now creating something together with
sound and lighting and gradually build to full runs of the
play. There is a desire to celebrate the stage we are on
(the Olivier) and recognise the need for distance and
breathing space upon it.
Toby Stephens (Danton)
Photo by Johan Persson
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