Theatre: Napoleon’s secret diary

Date saw the show: August 15 2007
Place saw the show: Alberta, Calgary, Calgary Fringe Festival (www.calgaryfringe.ca)
Director/Playwright/Cast: Ryan Gladstone

5 stars

Reviewed By: Emily Axelson

What if Napoleon was the accident of history? Think Inspector Clouseau meets Bob Newhart! From the creators of JESUS CHRIST: The Lost Years, THE CANADA SHOW, and The history of the Future.

Napoleon’s Secret Diary is exactly what the title says; the story of Napoleon’s life through his secret diary. It takes you through his many accomplishments and failures through his perspective. The acting and the direction allows you to get inside the mind of Napoleon, along with the other characters involved in this production.

A one man show on the life of the legendary Napoleon, through his secret diary, Napoleon’s Secret Diary is highly entertaining, very informative, and extremely amusing.

The main actor, as the role of every character in the production is fantastic! He remains in character the entire time, and keeps the audience entertained. When one individual plays every single character, it is often difficult to know which character he is playing. Not in Napoleon’s Secret Diary. You can easily tell which character he is acting out, and he acts them out almost perfectly.

Napoleon is known worldwide for being a military leader with a love of conquering. Napoleon’s Secret Diary makes you think otherwise. Rather than being a war monger, he is somewhat of a coward attempting to avoid the war. At first, I wasn’t very eager to see this play, but after two minutes of this highly enjoyable production, I changed my mind completely. It’s filled with laughs, and it is a delight. I could not be more pleased with Napoleon’s Secret Diary.