BRITAIN'S best preserved Georgian theatre is set to stage an authentic play from the Napoleonic era.

Working with researchers from the University of Warwick, Richmond's Georgian theatre Royal is staging Guilbert de Pixerécourt’s The Fortress on the Danube from 1805. The production is part of a four year project transforming the understanding of theatre during the Napoleonic era and the interplay of art and politics. The performance is on Friday August 25. Project leader Dr Katherine Astbury said: “A public performance of an entire play seemed the logical conclusion to our project and the Georgian Theatre is the perfect venue. Melodrama was the most popular genre across Europe in the early 19th century and the performance will give people the chance to act in a play dating from the theatre’s heyday.”