Martin Guerre is a musical written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the duo behind Les Misérables and Miss Saigon. It received mixed reviews when it was first produced in 1996, not quite hitting the commercial heights of some of their other work. Now the show has been reworked and rewritten, with new lyrics by Boublil, Annabel Mutale Reed, and Paul Hodge, and Matthew Warchus has directed a stripped-back 90-minute, semi-staged preview production, staged in the round at London’s Old Vic.
There’s very little spoken dialogue in this show, and the small band of musicians play throughout. The songs are performed with wonderfully clear diction and are instantly memorable without ever being overly showy, constantly serving the narrative rather than providing stand-out musical numbers.
Based on the real case of a 16th-century French peasant, young Martin Guerre runs away from his wife and home village of Artigat and joins the army. After several years in the army, Martin is mortally wounded and begs his friend Arnaud to go to Artigat and tell them that he died a hero. Perhaps because ‘Martin Guerre’ is a totally cool name, Arnaud takes on Martin’s identity and starts to build a successful life for himself. Until one careless remark from a passing soldier threatens to expose the impostor and tear apart the small farming community.
The entire cast are magnificent throughout, with the whole company boasting incredible singing voices and delivering impeccable acting performances. In the opening scenes, Bethan Louise Honer, Dan Hand, Oliver Payne, and Eli McFarland are compelling as the younger Bertrande, Martin, Guillaume, and Benoit, respectively, and it’s a shame we don’t see more of them.
Shane O’Riordan plays Arnaud/Martin and commands the stage, charming the villagers, romancing Martin’s wife Bertrande, who may or may not be aware that he’s not the same man, and facing down Barney Wilkinson’s exquisitely furious Guillaume, a young farmer who is desperate to marry Bertrande himself and resents Martin’s apparent reappearance. Guillaume crackles with repressed rage in every movement, the perfect foil to Martin’s calm strength.
Liv Andrusier gives a spectacular central performance as Bertrande, the young wife who waits seven years for her husband to return, enduring derision and persecution from the superstitious villagers who accuse her of witchcraft and blame her for Artigat’s persistent drought. Bertrande deserves to be the main character in this story, and Andrusier shines throughout.
This new production of Martin Guerre plays down the broader historical context of the French Wars of Religion, which in one sense is a shame because Huguenot Do You Think You Are? would be such a fun review title. Instead, there’s a conflict throughout between the superstitious and distinctly pagan villagers and Adam Pearce’s bombastic Father Dominic as the voice of the Church.
The villagers of Artigat are an almost hilariously volatile and fickle bunch throughout the show, reacting to events by switching their loyalties with a speed that sometimes verges on Monty Pythonesque, but the idea of the public mood being so easily manipulated by populist figures and property owners is frighteningly topical.
This stripped-down, minimalist Martin Guerre makes 90 minutes fly past in a frenetic blur. It is a powerful and intense production and will hopefully give this fantastic musical a whole new chapter.
Martin Guerre is playing at The Old Vic until 31 October 2026.
Book your tickets at oldvictheatre.com
Words by Andrew Lawston
Photography by Helen Maybanks
