Tournées Fest: "Return of the Hero"

Burgundy, 1809. Only moments after the dashing Captain Neuville has asked for the hand of aristocratic young Pauline Beaugrand, he is summoned to join Napoleon’s troops in Austria. The captain rides off, promising to write, but the months pass without any news. Finally, Pauline’s older sister Elisabeth composes a forged letter in Neuville’s name, hoping to cheer her lovelorn sister, without considering that she will reply—and expect an answer. Elisabeth is soon pulled into a web of deceit, inventing ever more outlandish stories to explain Neuville’s extended absence. Her fake letters about his swashbuckling adventures become the talk of the town. Finally, she writes a letter suggesting that Neuville has died a hero’s death, freeing Pauline to move on. Life goes back to normal… until Neuville reappears, as a deserter and drunk who has every intention of benefitting from the hero’s reputation Elisabeth has unwittingly built for him.