Prisoner-of-war theatre
Between 2013 and 2017, a team of researchers at the University of Warwick, led by Kate Astbury, was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to explore the complex interplay of aesthetics and politics in French theatre from 1799-1815. One member of the team, PhD student Devon Cox, studied the theatrical endeavours of a group of French prisoners of war who were captured in Spain in 1807 during the Peninsular War. At first housed in prison hulks off Cadiz, the prisoners were then transferred to the desert island of Cabrera before being transported to Portchester Castle in 1810.
The prisoners had performed classic French comedies in a disused cistern on Cabrera but on arrival at Portchester, they found that the man in charge of the prison, Captain Charles William Paterson, was happy to support their theatrical endeavours and provided the wood they needed to build a full working theatre in the keep of the castle. The theatre was constructed under the direction of Jean-François Carré, who had been a professional stage technician in Paris before his conscription into the army.
In January 1811, the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle reported:
“The French Prisoners at Portchester have fitted up a Theatre in the Castle, which they have decorated in a style far surpassing anything of the kind that could possibly be expected […] It is no exaggeration of their merit to say, that the Pantomimes which they have brought forward, are not excelled by those performed in London.”
Devon and Kate's research fed into the new interpretation of the keep and visitors can now enjoy panels about the theatre, a stage and a dressing-up box of replica early 19th-century costumes.
On Wednesday 19th July 2017, Past Pleasures Heritage Theatre in conjunction with the University of Warwick performed a 3-act melodrama, Roseliska, a play written and performed by the prisoners in November 1810. The manuscript of the play text has survived and is in the V & A. Project postdoc Dr Diane Tisdall arranged a score to accompany the play, using music from Paris manuscript scores and printed music published by the prisoners' musical director, Marc-Antoine Corret on his return to France at the end of the war.
Meticulous research into the moments where melodramas had music inserted and into Corret’s own compositions has allowed Diane to produce a score that reproduces the practice at the time and which includes music the prisoners would have been familiar with. The melodies for the two songs were drawn from a contemporary source of airs, theClé du Caveau.
Parisian theatre of the Napoleonic Era was dominated by melodrama which aimed for maximum emotional effect – there was a sense that as a result of the French Revolution people needed something strong to move them after all they’d experienced in real life. It was a theatrical form of grand spectacle with elaborate scenery and stage effects, extended dance and fight scenes.
The prisoners at Portchester were performing some of the hit plays by the leading exponent of melodrama, Guilbert de Pixerécourt but they were also writing their own plays. Roseliska was written by two of the acting troupe and they also starred in the performance as Stanislas and Metusko. They took their inspiration from the play text of a Paris melodrama Metusko which had been sent to them from France. But after the opening scenes, the plays diverge and Roseliska gives us unique insight into the hopes and fears of those held at Portchester.Roseliskais a play about escaping imprisonment, where the gaoler Caski is a projection of the ideal, humane prison guard and where the heroine has remained faithful to her husband despite their long separation.
You can see a report on BBC South Today about the production here:
Dr Katherine Astbury discusses the lives of Napoleonic prisoners - BBC South Today
And you can watch a recording of the dress rehearsal of Roseliska here
In addition to the prisoners' theatre, Kate has also worked on a play entitled Le Philanthrope révolutionnaire, first performed on board the Crown prison hulk in 1807 by French prisoners of war who had fought in the Caribbean. It is a historical drama about the revolution in Haiti and a copy of the manuscript was made in 1811 with watercolour illustrations of the sets. This play was the basis for Kate and Abigail Coppins' collaboration with Elaine Mitchener for the |Les murs sont témoins| sound installation in 2019 and with the National Youth Theatre in 2020. You can read more about it in this article of Kate's: