Our linguists enjoyed the opportunity to shape research being led by Warwick University recently during a lecture on ‘Melodrama, mayhem and murder” by Dr Kate Astbury from Warwick University who came to share her research about French prisoners of war theatre during the Napoleonic wars. The audience included Year 10, 12 and 13 students who had the opportunity to actively contribute to her research by helping to choose the best period music to go with a scene from a French play written by French Napoleonic prisoners of war who were detained in Portchester Castle. They even had the opportunity to re-enact that scene, which was a first since the play was written in the early 1800`s. This is part of a project run is run by English Heritage to restage this play at Portchester Castle 200 years after it was staged there by the French prisoners. It was absolutely inspirational for our girls to be a part of the research for the music for that performance.
