The Marquis de Sade has become a byword for sexual sadism against women. In this historical play set in 1801, de Sade entices a beautiful young girl into his house, and then, in front of his female followers, deliberately and brutally tortures her into insanity. In Act II, set seven years later in an insane asylum, de Sade begins organizing his fellow inmates into a theatre group. Once again, he encounters the same young woman, and this time he systematically frightens her into psychological submission--and also destroys the illusions of one of his own followers. Riveting psychodrama