A major new production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Martin Guerre will be part of Matthew Warchus’ final season as artistic director of The Old Vic.
Warchus will direct the semi-staged production which will offer the first look at Boublil and Schönberg’s new revised version of their award-winning 1996 musical.
Reimagined for the London stage with new music, lyrics and folk-inflected orchestrations, the production will be staged in the round at the prestigious London venue for five weeks only this autumn. Dates and the full cast will be announced at a later date.
Inspired by the true story of 16th century peasant Martin Guerre and the 1982 film The Return of Martin Guerre, the two-act largely sung-through musical debuted in the West End in 1996. Although the reception to the show was mixed the musical did win the 1997 Olivier Award for Best New Musical. The musical has previously been rewritten a number of times, with a revised production playing at Newbury’s Watermill Theatre in 2007.
Announcing the production alongside a new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s 1969 play How the Other Half Loves directed by Phillip Breen, Warchus said: “I grew up in North Yorkshire with Alan Ayckbourn’s theatre on my doorstep and he has long been one of my favourite writers. The Old Vic’s current In The Round configuration was in fact originally created for my production of The Norman Conquests 18 years ago so I’m delighted that one of his most celebrated plays will feature in my final season. Phillip Breen is a director well known for delivering comedic excellence and I’m delighted to welcome him to The Old Vic.
“As my penultimate show, I’m very excited to be sharing an all-new version of Boublil and Schönberg’s extraordinary musical, the creation of which has been many years in the making. The show has been radically reworked, featuring new lyrics, new folk-inflected orchestrations and an immersive In The Round staging.”
Angela Thomas
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