On 27 October 2014, Project Investigator Kate Astbury and PhD student Devon Cox went to Portchester Castle (English Heritage) to find out more about the prisoners of war held their during the Napoleonic wars. The prisoners performed theatre in the basement of the keep,. Locals came to watch performances of well-known plays and recent Paris productions, with the prisoners writing their own music to Pixerécourt melodramas for instance, Archival material allows us an insight into the creation of the plays and the conditions in which the prisoners performed. The basement space would have had seats and boxes for the audience but there would have only been 2 entrances on to the stage. Devon’s PhD will look in more detail at the prisoner of war theatricals so watch this space!
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows: Katherine Astbury (November 5, 2014). Prisoner of War theatricals at Portchester castle. Napoleonic theatre. Retrieved February 11, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/ow63