'Martin Guerre' review — Liv Andrusier is the beating heart of this intimate, reimagined musical

Read our review of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's Martin Guerre, now in performances at the Old Vic to 31 October.

Summary

• A new staging of Martin Guerre comes to the Old Vic
• Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's musical is based on a real 16th-century story
• Matthew Warchus's intimate, in-the-round production is a delicate chamber piece
• Liv Andrusier is a standout as Martin's wife Bertrande

Dare I say it, there’s a reason why certain shows reign supreme? French songwriting duo Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil have given us two of the most successful musicals of all time: Les Misérables and Miss Saigon. But their third shot at musical theatre glory – the 1996 musical Martin Guerre, loosely based on the life of a real 16th-century French peasant at the centre of an infamous case of imposture – was born as the runt of the litter.

Now, for his final bow at the Old Vic, Matthew Warchus has joined forces with the pair to “completely reimagine” it. And yes, it’s a big improvement on previous iterations – of which there have been a few. This smaller-scale production, they claim, is how the show was always supposed to be, and it has been years in the making.

And yet, it still doesn’t quite earn its place among the golden greats. The book has been cut, reshaped and condensed, the music reworked and a standout new number, "Someday", added, with everything staged in a far more intimate, in-the-round setting. At its centre is Liv Andrusier’s Bertrande, the woman Martin leaves behind when he flees their village of Artigat to join the army, having failed to consummate their marriage. She is its beating heart from the start – but you’ve got to keep your eyes and ears open to keep up. In the first 30 minutes alone, the crops fail, the villagers face famine, Martin goes to war and dies, before his fellow soldier returns to Artigat in his place and, finally, the rain falls. I spent the following scenes trying to piece together exactly who was who.

Part of the problem is that Martin Guerre will always be judged against its illustrious siblings. While it has many of the hallmarks of a Schönberg and Boublil musical – multilayered love songs, sweeping operatic melodies, and emotionally charged storytelling – the material itself just isn’t as carefully constructed or momentous.

But this production does its very best to breathe fresh excitement into the story. Warchus rips up what has gone before to deliver a delicate chamber piece, leaning into the personal relationships and deep longings at the musical’s core. Andrusier makes Bertrande a woman determined to secure her happy ending. In "Someday", her gliding, belted notes convey a deep-seated belief that a better life is almost within reach. Shane O’Riordan plays the older Martin, who returns to Artigat as a man desperate to be held and loved: his songs are simply glorious. Together, their harmonies are laced with intertwining passion – but I was forever questioning what Bertrande was actually thinking, wishing for even a flash more insight.

With a minimal set – a long table for a banquet scene and the customary waving flags to signify war – and a genuinely stunning lighting design from Hugh Vanstone, Luca Panetta and Toby Ison, Warchus expresses deep feeling through the simplest of theatrical means. Martin Guerre might not be the defining achievement of his tenure, but it’s more than enough to make for a fond farewell.

Martin Guerre is at the Old Vic to 31 October. Book Martin Guerre tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Martin Guerre (Photos by Helen Maybanks)