Review by Joanne Baldwin
The Dreyfus Affair by George Whyte
Published by Oberon Books, part of the Oberon Modern Playwrights Series
This trilogy of plays, written in 1994 by George R. Whyte, focuses on the life of Alfred Dreyfus, the victim of a shocking miscarriage of justice in nineteenth-century France. The plays explore the personal and political impact of the scandal.
Dreyfus was a French Jewish army officer, who was falsely accused in 1894 of leaking military secrets to France’s enemies. He was found guilty and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement on Devil’s Island. His case was picked up by high-profile people, not least Emile Zola who wrote an impassioned letter of support, J’Accuse, which is used as a basis for the second play in the trilogy.
Dreyfus in Time, the first of the three plays, focuses on the touching correspondence between Dreyfus and his wife, Lucie, covering the period from 1894 to his re-trial in 1899.
The second Rage and Outrage pitches Dreyfus supporters like Zola against anti-Dreyfusard journalist Edouard Drumont, who wrote the anti-Semitic La France Juive, while the final play, The Dreyfus Affair, explores and dispels the notion – propagated by anti-Semites – that Jews were not loyal citizens of the country they happened to reside in.
The plays are an excellent example of how drama can bring alive history. This volume is an important read, and would benefit students of history as well as drama.