One of the most gripping stories in world literature, renowned as a musical, is in this version not a musical but in a raw theater form. The performance has already premiered in Denmark, where it received stellar reviews and was awarded the prestigious theater prize Reumert for Best Joint Performance.
In a familiar style for director Kjersti Horn, the performance is like one long continuous one-take film shoot, where the audience gets to see the actors up close on a large screen that covers large parts of the stage. Here, Les Misérables becomes an epic about trying to be a good person at any cost. It is radical storytelling, a stripped-down theatrical play, and a reminder from another time to hold on to what is always most important: humanity.
Prisoner number 24601
Les Misérables is the story of the convict Jean Valjean who steals a loaf of bread for his sister and her starving children, and must pay for this for the rest of his life. It is about a man who has no chance in a system that blindly follows the rules, even when they are unjust. The story spans over a period of more than 17 years from 1815, culminating in 1832 with the French June Rebellion.
A story about marginalization
The theater director Kjersti Horn has throughout her career intensely engaged with what she calls marginalization. Those who are not part of the community because they cannot, and the community does not want to. Here, she gives new life to the socially critical epic, ensuring that we cannot look away from all that and the miserable we – and our society – have created.
