Unity Hall, Wakefield – 26 July 2025
Reviewed by Lauren Fordham
5*****
Les Miserablés is an iconic musical based on Victor Hugo’s book set in France in the 1800s. The complex plot follows Jean Valjean (played by Tyler Warren), a destitute man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. Consequently, he is imprisoned and tortured for 19 years. (‘Five years for what you did, the rest because you tried to run.’) When he is paroled, he is stalked by obsessive policeman Javert (Albi Rodriguez) and feels very embittered by his experiences, leading him to steal from a bishop who gives him food and shelter (Jasper Adams Mead). When the police are called, however, he claims to them that the items were gifted to him by the Bishop. To his astonishment the bishop asserts that this is true to the police, so he is granted freedom, provided he now lives an honest Christian life.
Les Mis 2025 from Stage to Screen: The TikTok Call to Arms
But Powerhouse Productions is no ordinary retelling of the classic ‘Les Mis’. Producers Andrew Ashley and Andy Fretwell have brought it into 2025 using the video design skills they are practised at using in shows by their theatre company for adults, Diva Productions, and they have done so with a incisive resonance that pierces to the bone.
The main cast are introduced on a film screen that highlights the disproportionate ‘justice’ doled out to Valjean by paralleling it with images of recent protests like that of the unlawful killing of George Floyd and ‘Black Lives Matter.’ The process of Valjean’s arrest is recorded and enlarged on a screen as if they are carrying body cameras, and credit must be paid to Laura Hancock and Finley Boyle, the camera operators, for coming out from behind the scenes to do this, uniquely, and to great effect.
Similarly, Do You Hear The People Sing, the student soldiers’ call to arms, is live-streamed as though on TikTok. In making this powerful theatrical choice, a powerful statement is made about the performativity of such responses as despite a flood of hearts and likes on the video, the students are left unsupported on the barricade. Are they ‘abandoned by those who still live in fear,’ or ignored by the apathetic youth of today who find it easy to click, but less so to commit to a cause in person?
What cannot be understated is the extraordinary commitment of this young cast who have juggled school and part-time jobs with rehearsals and been just as dedicated and professional, and produced a show that is certainly on par with, if not surpassing the quality of any adult, paid company. It feels unbelievable that this is their first production, as it is so seamless it feels like they have been working together for years.
Amazon as a ‘business of repute’ is an inspired example of theatrical irony thumbing its nose at Jeff Bezos
When Valjean becomes rich from the Bishop’s largesse, the modern ‘factory’ he buys is Amazon with its unmistakable logo emblazoned and I loved the theatrical irony and somewhat breaking of the fourth wall that the line ‘I run a business of repute’ serves as given how highly questionable the ethics of Bezo’s company are.
Warren’s Valjean is not just vocally competent to a level that evokes Colm Wilkinson, the original 1985 production’s star, his acting is superlative spanning bitterness, growth and self-forgiveness as he realises, and articulates to Javert that, ‘I’m a man, no worse than any man.’ Popular West End Valjean, Alfie Boe, could learn a lot from him.
Albi Rodriguez’s performance as Javert is also of a standard that it shocked me that he only has one previous theatre credit to his name, I have no doubt that his future theatrical career will have many.
This brings me on to my only disappointment of the night, but unfortunately it felt big. When Javert is freed by Valjean at the barricade, he cannot mentally cope with the idea of Valjean’s redemption and takes his own life – I was excited to see how Director Andrew Ashley would utilise his videography skills to evoke Javert’s plunge into the Seine. Particularly as the scene was more drawn out, it built a higher sense of expectation. Although Nathan Purcell’s lighting evoked a disappearance, it was a missed opportunity for greatness and felt more like a trick than musical theatre magic.
I was also somewhat disappointed by the blocking choice that had ‘A Little Fall of Rain,’ where Marius comforts the dying Eponine, and Gavroche’s fatal errand collecting bullets, take place in a position that made it difficult to see the characters’ faces, unless you were in the front row. That made their pivotal deaths a little less impactful than they could have been, although Daisy Winbolt-Robertson and Teddy Cooper’s passionate and endearing performances prior to this meant they still brought a tear. As a lifelong Eponine-Marius fan girl since the age of seven, I was gratified by Olli Blakeley’s genuine and extended grief at her death as I often felt it was given lip service in professional performances of the musical and in the film adaptation. I also appreciated Teddy Cooper’s Gavroche visibly grieving Eponine, as their familial relationship is rarely acknowledged in the musical, unlike in Hugo’s book. I’m sure his brand of exuberance and enthusiasm as Gavroche could land him the role of ‘Artful Dodger’ in ‘Oliver’ in future, should he desire it.
The production on the whole was a triumph, and brought out many huge talents with skills far beyond their years, particularly Charlie Scholes and Grace Wassell, who played the Thenardiers. Scholes in particular reminded me of a young James Corden with his self-important swagger. Their ‘chavvy’ characterisation wouldn’t have been as effective without the Creative Team’s clever choices to have them in lurid tracksuits and adult Eponine in moody ‘emo’ black leather though. I chuckled aloud at Charlie Scholes’ improvisation of saying ‘bralette’ instead of Cosette during ‘The Bargain’, as it was not only a clever nod to the modernisation of Wassell’s costume, it was another indicator of his character’s shallow, one-track-mind. I also appreciated the simple yet poignant symbolism of the student-soldiers wearing school jumpers, reminding the audience that ‘they were schoolboys, never held a gun.’ This was further emphasised by the video screens featuring child soldiers.
I also want to credit Mary Collins, who excelled as an ensemble member in early scenes yet commanded authority and the audience’s attention in equal measure when she played Enjolras.
The company has a myriad of female talent, including Esmae Bloomer, who played a Fantine driven to drug abuse by grief for Cosette. In light of that, I’m very excited for Powerhouse’s next teen production, Six the Musical, playing from 11-14th February 2026.
One thing’s for sure, in each and every hardworking cast and crew member, this production of Les Misérables has found and ignited a powerful powder keg of talent, and their flames will never die.