"Les Miserables" - directed by David Lampard for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of South Australia

"Les Miserables" might be a popular musical to stage, but it's a challenge to present something that doesn't revolve around the massive barricade. David Lampard's thrilling production succeeds by flying acres of dirty cloth around the stage to allow emotive intimacy for the solos, then flings them away for the stirring anthems. His strong cast both act and sing their dirty socks off to bring light and shade that just isn't there in the polished West End production: Petra Taylor's queen bitch in the factory hierarchy, Mark Horner's Grantaire steering ably through the conflict between the ABC Cafe students and Tom Millhouse bringing a Gollum/Smeagal personality clash to his final scene as the otherwise simmering Javert. Trish Spence shone as she took us through Fantine's madness to her death and Rod Schultz shows us again his perfect comic timing as a Thenardier who is dark but still fun, yet never as a caricature. The power of "One Day More" prickled the backs of our necks to the point where some in the audience wondered how it could go on from there - but it continued to sweep us along, leaving us breathless after Mark Oates' outstanding "Bring Him Home" and teary with the inspired "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables" sung by Andrew Crispe's Marius. Stage-auteur Lampard shows us his complete vision through his intelligent, dynamic staging, Kieslowski colours and tableau presentation of his passionate ensemble cast: the men rouse us with testosterone-charged calls to fight in "Red and Black", whilst the women lament their desperate existence of life through "At the End of the Day" to swell our hearts and eyes with the choked words of "Turning". The audience feels the surge of passion, knows each cry of frustration and aches with every sob of despair - the flight around nineteenth century France connects to us through the immense strength of the visual and aural performances by the entire cast. And it is the ensemble beyond the people that makes this even better: Laraine Wheeler's adroit lighting leads and complements every scene; Ross Curtis paces his orchestra through the full emotional range; and the sound from Matt Curtis balances instruments and voices well. The show is about courage, passion, determination and redemption - and so is the story... :-) it's deservedly standing ovation and entirely sold out, so beg, pickpocket or sell yourself for a ticket. (as the author of this review, I should say that I was involved in some pre-production work for this show and my wife is a member of the ensemble; I have chosen to comment on neither her performance nor my own contributions)