Is it really Martin Guerre? The Old Vic reopens the case

Martin Guerre | Old Vic Theatre until 31 October 2026

The Les Misérables creators’ true-story musical returns in a leaner, folkier version, but only until Saturday.

Martin Guerre is only at the Old Vic Theatre until Saturday 31 October, so if you want to see this new version, you’ll need to be quick. It’s a true story from sixteenth-century France. Martin Guerre couldn’t cope with being married, went away to war, and returned seven years later. And the question the musical poses is: was it the real Martin Guerre or not?

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, the creators of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, wrote Martin Guerre as their next show after those. It opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End in July 1996, was closed and reworked within months, and reopened in November. It won the 1997 Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

It has been through many versions since, including a rewritten production at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 1998 and a small-scale staging at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury in 2007. The version now at the Old Vic is a radically reworked one-act chamber version, staged in the round. It is directed by Matthew Warchus, in what is his final show at the Old Vic.

I’ve been asked by the director not to spill any of the beans on this, so I won’t. The central issue is Bertrande, Martin Guerre’s wife: did she know whether the man who came back was the real Martin Guerre? Did she know the truth?

I’ve seen three previous versions of the show. It was done in the West End, at the Prince Edward, as a massive orchestral show, and they did close it down and reopen it with changes, because at the time people didn’t know which Martin Guerre was which, and they couldn’t sort that out. They didn’t really solve that problem there, but they have, I think, in this one.

The lyrics weren’t very good either. People were slightly laughing at the way one of the songs basically went, “Look over there, it’s Martin Guerre.” So fortunately, in this version, they have a new lyricist, and the new lyrics work really well. Then I was lucky enough to see it in Leeds where they’d rewritten it again, but instead of putting Martin Guerre himself at the centre, they made it Bertrande’s story, and that really worked for me.

So I was quite surprised by this version, which they’ve now whittled down to 90 minutes, with no interval, but still telling the same story. They’ve put new songs in, and some of the old songs have been thrown out, which is a shame.

It’s billed as semi-staged, but it is fully staged, really. They’ve got the floor from their forthcoming A Christmas Carol, but everything else is fully costumed, fully staged and sung through. They’ve reduced the orchestra to a folk feel, and that’s really good. The company is led by Liv Andrusier as Bertrande, with Alex James-Hatton and Shane O’Riordan sharing the role of Martin, Caroline Sheen as Madame de Rols, Colin Ryan as Benoit, Barney Wilkinson as Guillaume and Adam Pearce as Father Dominic.

It has solved a lot of the identity crisis issues by having a younger Bertrand and Martin at the beginning. When he returns after 7 years and having grown considerably, including a beard, it is believable that he is accepted by Bertrand and the village as the returning Martin Guerre. It moves at a fast pace, so it really does rattle through this story. Unfortunately, not always to its advantage as some of the subtlety is lost and also the abrupt about-face of the mob isn’t fully realised. Unfortunately, at the performance I attended, when a character arrives in the trial scene, some of the audience laughed, which I don’t think was the intention.

This is a fascinating musical that is still looking for its definitive production. I do hope that it has a life beyond this version, which is built as a work in progress, and that walkers can be encouraged to extend the running time and let the musical breathe a bit more. As a lot of the changes that he has made make eminent sense, he just now needs to find a way for audiences to fully engage, particularly with Bertrand and her plight.

It’s a true story from sixteenth-century France, and this new version has been whittled down to 90 minutes with no interval, with better lyrics and an orchestra reduced to a folk feel that’s really good. It moves like an express train, not always to its advantage, but it solves some of the old problems.

The clock is genuinely running on this one: Martin Guerre closes Saturday, and EyeOnLondon would rather you caught Boublil and Schönberg’s strange, unfinished experiment while it’s still breathing than read about it afterwards.

Independent arts, culture, ideas and criticism, from London and beyond, at eye-on-london.com.

[Image Credits | Helen Maybanks]

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