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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
The dramatic action concerns the arrest, conviction and incarceration on Devil's Island of French artillery officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
The play's settings are : Act 1; Sc1. The Happy Home of Dreyfus ; Sc 2. Courtyard of Mdlle Du Pay's Hotel ; Sc 3. Intelligence Department of War Office ; The Arrest of Dreyfus ; Act 2. Sc 1. A Street in Paris ; Jewish Riots ; Sc 2. Another Street in Paris ; Sc 3. The Cherche Midi Prison ; The Court Martial ; Sc 4. The Prison Corridor ; On the Way to Degradations ; Sc 5. The College, Military Square ; The Degradation ; Act 3. The Isle Du Diable (or Devil's Island) ; The Prison Cell ; Tableau 1. The Prisoner at Exercise ; Persecution and Attempt to Drive Dreyfus to Suicide ; Tableau 2. Bureau of the Minister for War ; Dreyfus Placed in Irons and Strapped to Bed ; Tableau 3. A Street in Paris ; Supposed Suicide of Colonel Henry ; Act 4; Sc 1. Madame Dreyfus's Residence at Rennes ; Dreyfus's Return ; Sc 2. A Street in Rennes ; Sc 3. The Market Square, Rennes ; The President's Pardon (ctd. Sydney Morning Herald 21 October 1899, p2).
Notes
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Captain Alfred Dreyfus was a young French artillery officer and a Jew who in 1894 was arrested on suspicion of having passed military secrets to the German embassy in Paris. After his conviction he was sentenced to the infamous Devil's Island. Many people in France believed him to be innocent and a scapegoat for the anti-Semitic movement, however, and the affair effectively divided the country for more than a decade. Although Dreyfus was unsuccessful at his 1898 re-trial his supporters, including intellectuals like Emile Zola, eventually helped swing the public and government towards their cause. He was pardoned in 1899 and then finally exonerated in 1906. Interestingly the French military did not accept his exoneration until 1995. Nevertheless Dreyfus returned to the army and went on to serve in World War I as a lieutenant-colonel. In 1918 he was given the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour.
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An article on the Dreyfus Case was published in the Sydney Morning Herald a month prior to the play's Australia premiere, and called for a public meeting of sympathy (23 September 1899, p12).
Production Details
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1899 : Criterion Theatre, Sydney ; 21-27 October. Prod/Dir/Lessee. George Rignold. - Cast incl. George Rignold (Captain Dreyfus), Lillian Wheeler (Madame Lucie Dreyfus), H. W. Driver (Major Esterhazy), Douglas Ancelon (Colonel Sandherr), Francis Eaton (Colonel Picquart), Godfrey Cass (Colonel Paty Du Clam), J. W. Sweeney (Private Jacques Patrick Giraud), Roxy Barton (Mme Du Pays), Miss M. Brandon (Suzette), J. H. Nunn (Sergeant Gobert), Henry Jackson (Mons. Cavaignac), Master T. Hunt, Marie Phillips.
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This entry has been sourced from on-going historical research into Australian popular theatre being conducted by Dr Clay Djubal.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Criterion Theatre - 'Dreyfus'
1899
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23 October 1899; (p. 3)
— Review of Dreyfus , Or, Vive La France 1899 single work drama
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Criterion Theatre - 'Dreyfus'
1899
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23 October 1899; (p. 3)
— Review of Dreyfus , Or, Vive La France 1899 single work drama
- ca. 1894-1899
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cFrance,cWestern Europe, Europe,
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cFrench Guiana,cSouth America, Americas,
