The Last Night of André Chénier

The Last Night of André Chénier is a "tragic scene" by Victor Hugo (1802-1885), performed in Cape Town.

The original text
This is most probably a performed version of the tragic poem À André Chénier ("To André Chenier") by Victor Hugo (1802-1885), which celebrated the life of the executed Revolutionary poet André Chénier (1762 – 1794).

Performance history in South Africa
1848: Performed under the title The Last Night of André Chenier as part of an evening's "grand entertainment" in the Garrison Theatre, Cape Town by Thêàtre de L'Union on 24 February, also featuring the farce Les Ressources de Jonathas, and a Great Intermezzo" of music and dance. Given the title and the fact that the British Governor Sir Harry Smith and his wife were present as patrons of the event, the poem was possibly performed in English rather than the original French.

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