Napoleon: 1812

And he marched them down again...

Napoleon reduced the largest army the world had ever seen to a handful of famished scarecrows. Why did thousands of men destroy themselves? Hundreds of women explain.

Napoleon's 1812 campaign against Russia had no very clear objectives from the start. Its logistical and military execution was badly mishandled by both sides, and it was never certain what exactly would constitute a victory. The result was a catastrophe on an unprecedented scale, the world's first introduction to Total War.

Our own century has already furnished us with examples of comparable, near-criminal bungling.

At a time when the world looks in vain for coherent and intelligent leadership, it is salutary to remember the consequences of the absence of such qualities in those who govern us.

Because the Retreat from Moscow was the first military and civilian disaster in world history on such an epic scale, it has assumed a proverbial, almost mythological, status by which all subsequent disasters are measured.

This play takes up the mythological baton and runs with it, employing archetypal characters and choral techniques from classical drama to both develop the action and comment upon it. The effect is symphonic, almost operatic in its narrative sweep and power.

Ed O'Regan's play A Cloud in Trousers reviewed.
"... unusual, grim, absurd ... often funny ..."
(James Christopher, TIME OUT.)