Paris. 31st August, 1794

The French Revolution has been going on for five years, and nothing seems to have improved. Louis XVI has been executed and replaced by Maximilien Robespierre, a dictator responsible for the guillotining of over 17,000 French citizens. Yet he has been overthrown too, and the First French Republic is now run by a corrupt and incompetent government. In five years’ time, Napoleon Bonaparte will seize total power over the country first as a dictator and later as an Emperor. For now, though, he returns to Paris to his two friends to discuss what it is to be human.

The style of Contravanitas

Contravanitas (‘against vanitas’, the transience of life) is a new one-act play by Frederic Wyatt. It follows in part the traditions of Epic Theatre, a theatrical movement originating in Germany in the 1920s which focuses on the message of the play rather than the story or characters. The deliberate self-reference, such as the use of scripts and modern technology, as well as reference to 19th and 20th Century thinkers, reminds the audience that they are watching a play and furthers the sense of timelessness: that this simple scene could be happening at any point in history. As part of this, the play also employs Classical allusions and takes inspiration from Greek dialogues. The play is foremost a discussion; everything remains as it always was, except that the audience has a little more to think about.

The characters and their actors

Auguste de Marmont – a soldier of 20, and the narrator. In later life, he turned against Napoleon. Portrayed by Frederic Wyatt, the playwright and a member of St. Mark’s.

Jean-Andoche Junot – Marmont’s friend, and three years his senior. He died before Napoleon’s fall while suffering from madness. Portrayed by Tommy Perry, a chorister and music student.

Napoleon Bonaparte – the future Emperor of France, one of the most important individuals in all of history as a leader and general. Here, still a 25-year-old unemployed army officer. Portrayed by Flynn Jamieson, a history student and bibliophile.

A thank you is in order to all of St. Mark’s Church for their accommodation and support of the play, and particularly to the events co-ordinator Marcella King who was entirely crucial in putting on this performance.