Weiblicher Akt 8: DUMAS/LADAME/DESADE

Beyond shame and convention

Maatschappij Discordia is performing the tragic life of Marguerite Gautier, the lady with the camellias from the eponymous 1848 novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. In this passionate love story, a prostitute dies of tuberculosis. Or was it syphilis? In this semi-biographical novel – in which words like sexual abuse, sickness, and shame frequently recur – the illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas, père expresses the feelings that haunted him throughout his life.

Following Bron/Brontë, Vanuit Iokaste and last season, Mevrouw Macbeth, Discordia is presenting another Weiblicher Akt in which the heroine dies before the end of the story. In their very characteristic style, the ladies of Discordia break open the plot of La dame. To allow Marguerite to regain control of her own life, they seek the assistance – perhaps surprisingly – of the Marquis de Sade. They also highlight the piece’s contemporary relevance. What is our own part in this story? Is there space for Marguerite to have a more active role, or do shame and conventional thinking still stand in the way?