Il piccolo Marat is a dramma lirico or opera in three acts by the Italian composer Pietro Mascagni from a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Performance history The opera was first performed on 2 May 1921 at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome and then many times in Italy and South America, with at least 450 individual performances documented. Though Mascagni was slated to perform the opera in the United States in 1926, logistics proved too difficult for rehearsal, and the North American premiere waited until 13 April 2009, when Teatro Grattacielo performed the opera at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Roles Synopsis Source: Time of the Reign of Terror in France. Act One Scene: A small town square. On the left a building with a gallery and stairs, door beneath the gallery - The Committee Building. In the distance a bridge spanning a river. On the right a convent converted to a prison. All is deserted save "an American hussar" who stands guard at the prison. An autumn evening. The square, the bridge and the streets are deserted. The solitude of a desolate and terrified city. A melancholy song passes through the air that seems to rise from all the prisons of the city. Suddenly two young people run across the bridge pursued by a large crowd. The youths pass into the square with the crowd yelling they should be detained as thieves. As the crowd reaches the square The Marats exit the building on the left and prevent the crowd from approaching the Committee Building. Words are exchanged between The Marats and the Crowd who insist the youths "resell contraband." The Captain of the Marats exhorts the crowd to disperse. The Orc himself makes an appearance and speaks with the Crowd. When he tells the Crowd to report those who thieve, they respond that two such people are now in the square. The Orc descends to discover his niece Mariella is one of the two youths. She explains that she was bringing the Orc his dinner. The Crowd insists they must have what's in the basket Mariella carried. The young man with Mariella takes the basket and gives its contents to the Crowd. He then exclaims his sympathy with the Marats and is enlisted in their ranks and begins guard duty. The Young Man becomes The Small Marat. The Orc has three collaborators, The Spy, The Thief, The Tiger. The