June 1815. After Waterloo, Napoleon abdicated and surrendered to the British, who sent him to the other side of the world, to the island of St Helena. He no longer has an army or a sword, but he still has one weapon: the pen of’Emmanuel de Las Cases, a fellow prisoner and best-selling author, to whom he dictates his memoirs. «The Dictation», written and directed by Nathalie Ganem, recounts this final battle – the battle for posterity.
The story is fascinating: through Las Cases’ skilful pen, a life that was already extraordinary becomes an epic, then a myth, and finally a bestseller. It was on this remote rock in the middle of the ocean that the Napoleonic legend, and the play places us in the room where it is being written, with two men facing each other.
On stage, Sylvain Marceaux and Nicolas Moulet wear this pair for 1 hour 20 minutes, for the NG Compagnie. In Fontainebleau, the town where Napoleon bid farewell to the Guard, the subject naturally strikes a deeper chord than elsewhere.
The performance is scheduled for Saturday evening on Fontainebleau Imperial Cakes, the town’s Napoleonic weekend, dedicated this year to the Emperor’s army: the perfect way to round off a day of talks and strategy games at the Théâtre municipal de Fontainebleau. Seats range from €10 to €30 depending on the category and fare (full or reduced), and are taken on the the Municipal Theatre’s online ticket office.
A few words are enough, I reply personally.