Accounts of Committee meeting on March 30, '94 (when Danton's arrest was ordered)??

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

I know that there aren't any official minutes of the March 30 joint meeting of the Committees (or any meeting, really), but there are at least partial accounts of what transpired. Does anyone know of a relatively complete account, either from some primary source document (ie. someone's memoirs) or something pieced together by historians)?

Comments

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

It was Pam Gems' adaptation, so not the full text, and I think it was heavily altered. I think the original play is pretty well unperformable as a straight play - it's written more like a dream, and I saw it in a proscenium arch theatre, when it would have been much better in a theatre-in-the-round type space, more intimate. I'm curious to know how Wajda staged his theatre version, and if he left it intact - ok, I don't know many Poles, but those I do all know her name well, and he said at the time what a respected literary figure she was by then.

Have you heard of the insane-sounding 5 hour musical play done in the late 80's, with James Marsters from 'Buffy' as Robespierre, who is shown screwing his sister or something like that? Gawd!

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

It was Pam Gems' adaptation, so not the full text, and I think it was heavily altered. I think the original play is pretty well unperformable as a straight play - it's written more like a dream, and I saw it in a proscenium arch theatre, when it would have been much better in a theatre-in-the-round type space, more intimate.

Out of curiosity, how was the trial (if it was shown onstage) handled? If it's in there, I'd imagine it's hard to do convincingly...

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I can't remember! It was 20 years ago - I think they did do it onstage, on benches, but I can't remember anything more useful than that. It's offstage in the original play, (I think - god my memory!), but I've read a note that says Wajda's 70's stage production seated the Tribunal in the audience, so I presume, as with the film, he added it from the surviving trial notes.

[livviebway.livejournal.com]

Do you mean Pam Gems' play "The Snow Palace"? Or did she actually do an adaptation of "The Danton Case"? Cause The Snow Palace is more about the life of Stanislawa Prz... herself. I read it and I have to say I didn't like it very much because I thought Gems really misunderstood Stanislawa Prz's relationship to her plays and characters. The "excerpts" of The Danton Case that made it into The Snow Palace were very different from the actual play.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

It was an adaptation of 'The Danton Case', called 'The Danton Affair', but I hadn't read the original play at the time and it's so long ago now since I saw it I can't remember how they compare, but I think it was quite heavily adapted. I haven't read 'the Snow Palace' yet but I'm interested to see what she did with it - it's such an unusual life I'm surprised it hasn't appealed to more dramatists, but as far as I know it's the only dramatisation (?). Hilary Mantel was going to do a novel, but (as with her mooted Marat one) I don't know if she ever did - her new one's about another chap who got beheaded on the 28th July - Thomas Cromwell...