LES MISERABLES - Queanbeyan Players - Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre

The cast of Queanbeyan Players production of "Les Miserables"

Director: Dale Rheynolds – Assistant Director: Sarah Powell 

Movement Director: Belinda Hassall – Production Manager: David Tricks

 

Musical Director: Brigid Cummins – Conductor: Jen Hinton

 

Costume Designer: Helen McIntyre – Set Designer: David Abbie 

Lighting Designer: Zac Harvey – Sound Designer: Telia Jansen

The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. May 22nd to June 6th, 2026 

Opening night performance reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Set in 19th century France Les Miserables has been running continuously on the West End in London since 1985. Despite numerous productions around the world, audiences never seem to tire of the epic scale of it’s up-lifting story nor the glorious score in which every song is a classic. 

Although Canberra audiences have been treated to quite a few productions of this musical over the years, there are many reasons why this newest production by Queanbeyan Players deserves your attention. Not least, the intriguing concept for the production by first- time director, Dale Rheynolds. 

Rheynolds has conceived a production in what you don’t see is almost as important as what you do, embracing a colourless set design by David Abbie which first appears deceptively simple, but surprises with its flexibility. 

The brilliant lighting design by Zac Harvey hides set changes behind walls of light, which miraculously don’t blind the viewer, but allow subsidiary characters and ensemble to appear and disappear through the shadows while keeping the storytellers clearly in focus.

Sophie Hope-White (Cosette) - Alexander Unikowski (Marius)

To enhance her beautifully staged set-pieces Rheynolds relies on Helen McIntyre’s resourceful costuming to provide colour, and Belinda Hassal’s imaginative movement direction to keep the stage alive with well-executed group movement. 

It is obvious that the production has required a huge team effort from the company and Rheynolds has marshalled her resources wisely to achieve fully committed performances from her large cast. 

Being a fully sung-through show Les Miserables requires huge musical resources to do justice to Schonberg’s glorious score. Musical Director Brigid Cummins has assembled a first-rate team of musicians, conducted by Jen Hinton, who are certainly up to the task. 

However, there were moments where essential lyrics were lost in the mix. Hopefully this can be rectified in future performances because in a sung-through show, clarity of lyrics is essential.

 

Dave Smith (Jean Valjean)

In an excellent cast, both Dave Smith (Jean Valjean) and Max Gambale (Javert) appeared to be struggling vocally, no doubt due to a strenuous rehearsal week leading up to opening night. 

However, both gave superb performances in their roles, and both deservedly earned cheers for their renditions of "Stars" (Javert) and "Bring Him Home" (Jean Valjean) as did Jess Waterhouse as Fantine for "I Dreamed a Dream" and India Cornwell for "On My Own" (Eponine).

 

Jess Waterhouse (Fantine) 

There were excellent performances aplenty in this cast though, particularly from Sophie Hope-White (Cosette), Alexander Unikowski (Marius) and William Allington (Enjolas). 

Queanbeyan Players have achieved a high-water mark with this inventive production of a musical classic.

                                        Photos by Ben Appleton - Photox

    This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 23.05.26

Sheltering

Bangarra Dance Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre,

Until May 27.

Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this review contains the name and image of a deceased person. 

Sheltering is a triple bill dance production that honours both past and present, with a remount of the 2015 work Sheoak alongside two works from emerging artists. It also fondly remembers David ‘Dubboo’ Page, the brother of former artistic director Stephen Page, and composer for Bangarra over many years. Of all his beautiful soundscapes created for the company, Sheoak was his last. 

Dancers move under a heavy net, slowly spreading and rising until they emerge, to a slow thumping beat. Keeping Grounded is the contemporary work choreographed by Glory Tuohy-Daniell, exploring "An energetic connection to the earth and ancestral land" as the program explains.

Holes that look like burns allow dancers to move in and out of the net, beginning with playful swaying in the net and popping through the holes. Some lovely partner work was on display - dancers appeared to playfully confront each other, clutching a handful of each other's costumes as they lifted and rolled around each other. The choreography is angular with some movements being robotic and with moments of jerking or vibrating - those weaved subtly through the final dance work and gave it a choreographic reference point. 

Photo by Daniel Boud

The dancers were costumed in tops and pants in a neutral palette before reemerging in unitards of brown and ochre.

A straight jacket was passed between the dancers, possibly to symbolise intergenerational incarceration. It also appeared to represent a struggle of fitting into an imposed routine and a loss of connection to roots. 

Brown Boys is a short film by Daniel Mateo and Cass Mortimer Eipper, filmed against the stark white backdrop of a film studio set. Mateo stands in a small structure made of talas (Tongan mats, representing that side of his heritage) and recites his own poetry recalling what it was like growing up a brown boy, whilst extreme close-ups focus on his hands, feet, his tattoos and beautiful brown eyes. Dirt and sand run over his hands, representing his Aboriginal heritage and he smears ochre across his face as he speaks of dirt and honey, love and hurt. He is at once parts and whole, connecting to and consumed by his bond to culture and Country. As the film concludes and the camera zooms out, he is owning his identity, standing proud with waist-high earth forming a protective skirt around him as he proclaims that “brown boys have been beautiful for a long while”.

A remount of Sheoak, premiered in 2015 and choreographed by Bangarra artistic director Frances Rings, with a score by David Page was the final piece in Sheltering. The program notes explain that “Sheoak tree branches symbolise indigenous culture passed through generations, its trunk stands for strong leadership and self-determined governance, and its roots anchor us in culture and lore”.

Striking costumes by Jennifer Irwin were exceptional to observe - fitted shorts in a silver and black snake print, with black and white textured bodices depicting a backbone, ribs, perhaps even gills. Ghost-like and beautiful. 

Photo by Daniel Boud from previous staging of Sheoak

The work covers a lot but there is a focus on feminine energy as  redemptive and protective. Chantelle Lee Lockhart embodies the keeper - a shamanic figure who oversees and protects yet bears a heavy burden.

The side-lighting, dramatic costumes, and Page’s soundscape creates a mysterious and captivating atmosphere. The male group dance, with unified choreography is a highlight, before the women appear in pretty, sheer tunics and silhouetted by dawn, with a softness and calming energy that would be used to try to save the men who have been affected by drugs, alcohol and violence. The men twitch, stagger and throw punches, the red and black skirts look like blood on skin, in a confronting depiction.

Large sticks are used as a burden to carry, a fence to form, a hunting tool and a legacy to pass on, before curved branches descend around the dancers, forming a ribcage, in a striking stage design. These branches seem to offer a choice of redemption, an escape or a return to despair. 

The segment of two dancers wrapped in a glowing blanket wasn’t clear in its purpose and didn’t fit in. The work concluded with ghostly figures emerging from mist and imagery of a fossil tree. 

It was exciting to see that many new, talented dancers have joined Bangarra, with Roxy Syron and Donta Whitham giving especially eye-catching performances. Sheltering is a contemporary style bill, introducing several new dancers and emerging choreographers, and bringing David Page’s meditative soundscapes to the stage again, by this much-loved company. 

Timeline of David Page's works. Taken from official program

An edited version of this review appears at citynews.com.au

SHELTERING BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE

 

 

Sheltering. Keeping Grounded. Brown Boys and Sheoak.

Artistic Director, Co-CEO and choreographer Sheoak. Frances Rings. Choreographer Keeping Grounded Glory Tuohy-Dniell. Choreographer and Director Brown Boys Daniel Mateo. Composer Sheoak David Page (dec). Music Director Sheltering and Composer Keeping Grounded. Composer Brown Boys Leon Rodgers. Director Brown Boys Cass Mortimer Eipper. Set Designer Sheoak Jacob Nash. Set designr Keeping Grounded Shana O’Bren. Set and costume designer for Brown Boys Elizabeth Gadsby. Costume Designer Sheoak Jennifer Irwin APDG. Costume Designer Keeping Grounded Clair Parker. Lighting Designer Sheoak and Keeping Grounded Karen Norris. Rehearsal Director Rikki Mason. Director of Photography Brown Boys Liam Brennan. Producer Brown Boys Michael Le.

The Dancers: Courtney Radford. Kallum Goolagong. Kassidy Waters. Jye Uren. Maddison Paluch. Daniel Mateo. Emily Flannery. James Boyd. Chantelle Lee Lockhart. Edan Porter. Tamara Bouman. Roxie Syron. Amberlilly Gordon. Donta Witham. Zeak Tass. Eli Clarke. Maddison Fraser.

Bangarra Dance Theatre. Canberra Theatre. May 23 – 27 2026. Bookings: canberratheatre.com.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Sheltering is Bangarra Dance Theatre like you have never seen them before. The dance’s origins remain traditionally rooted in the indigenous culture and audiences who have been fortunate enough to experience the wonder of Bangarra’s work over its thirty year history will recognize in Sheltering the spirit and visceral connection of a work that draws on 60,000 years of song, dance and storytelling passed down through ceremony over the ages. In the Canberra Theatre that reflection of indigenous storytelling through the exquisite magic of Bangarra’s dancers is heightened by the extraordinary use of technology to embellish the power of the creative imagination, making the experience of Sheltering a spiritual meditation on what Auntie Violet in her Welcome to Country rightly observes when she says “We are all human”. Sheltering, like all of Bangarra’s work is a gift of understanding and connection, expressed through the conventions of contemporary dance blended with traditional inspiration. On the one hand Sheltering is a tribute to survival. On the other it is an artistic acknowledgement of the power of the dance to bridge time, culture and experience and restore harmony and reconciliation.

Daniel Mateo in Brown Boys Photo by Cass Eipper

Sheltering comprises three separate performances all linked by the emotive expression of indigenous experience through the art of Bangarra’s dancers. Keeping Grounded presents five short pieces, expressing a humanity that we all share. Migi (Ground) summons our connection to shared country. Muted Contact announcing the peril of disconnection and loss of shared communication. Guliyapa (cheeky) is a condemnation of greed and materialism. No pull up is a condemnation of a society, caught in a vortex of superfluity, ignoring the value of pausing in a pressured world. Blues tells us to value what exists and cherish the moment and finally Ngulibi (Water) advising us to let go in response to the tight pressures that weigh upon our lives. It offers hope for the future, advising us to value what we have and who we are. From the early beginnings, emerging from beneath a net that rises and offers sanctuary and enclosure to the creation of patterns of connection and separation to the creation of imagery through the body in motion Keeping Grounded is a warning that offers hope. The dancers mesmerize, using the body as a vessel of communication, accompanied by an evocative composition by Brendan Boney, thrillingly choregraphed by Glory Tuohy-Daniell and designed by Clair Parker.

Daniel Moto’s performance piece Brown Boys is a short video featuring Mateo in salutation to his race and with a deep connection to country, to the earth and to his nature. There is pride in his portrayal of abrown bot, standing Samuel Becket like in a mound of dark earth and smearing his mouth with earth mixed with honey. His beauty is captivating, his performance in closeup a celebration of self and identity. At only six minutes, Brown Boys, performed in a cocooned wurley, reminds us of the pride in who we are. Designer Elizabeth Gadsby and director of photography Liam Brennan keep us riveted to Mateo’s performance. It is a compelling piece that, like Becket’s Happy Days deserves development into a longer work of theatre.

Keeping Grounded  Photo by Edward Mulvihill

The major work of the evening is a reimagined revival of the 2015 work Sheoak, choreographed by Bangarra’s Artistic Director Frances Rings. In Sheoak we discover the abundant richness of symbolism, myth and story. A decade on, this work born of a time of conflict, resonates with the power of righteousness. Advances have been made, but grievance lingers and rectification still needs to be addressed. Amberlilly Gordon enters the stage as Sheoak, an ancestor and sentinel, observer of her culture over generations and in thee sections depicting the human experience of Place, Body and Spirit. Sheoak is a remarkable work, not only for the astounding athleticism, control and beauty of the dancers in spirit and in movement, but also for the late composer David Dubbo Page’s resonating rhythms and sounds combining traditional and contemporary composition. The loss of David Page in 2016 after twenty years of composing for founding Artistic Director Stephen Page’s creations is still felt deeply but the revival of his startling and empowering composition in the current performance of Sheoak remains a lasting tribute to his legacy. In Place, the old is being replaced by a new way of life and the people must adapt. Change brings resistance and dysfunction in Body as the ancestral figure struggles to maintain the old. At the end of Spirit and the search for a new spirit for the age, Sheoak emerges to bring hope and renewal.

Sheltering is a phenomenal collaboration of dancers and the creative team. It is a metaphor for reconciliation and the power of art to transform and heal. The dancers are extraordinary, not only in their athleticism but in their capacity for emotional truth expressed through the choroagraphy, accompanied by the composition, settings and lighting effects in a performance that once again places Bangarra at the pinnacle of contemporary dance in the country and an ambassador for the indigenous citizens of the land. I have witnessed many Bangarra productions over the years but none has revealed the wondrous artistry and power of collaboration so vividly or in the closing image of Sheoak offered hope for change and renewal to heal the loss and wrongs of the past.

 Photos by Daniel Boud, Cass Eipper and Edward Mulvihill

SHELTERING Bangarra Dance Theatre

 

Sheltering – Bangarra Dance Theatre.  Canberra Theatre Centre, May 23, 26, 27, 2026

https://www.bangarra.com.au/news/2026-national-tour-sheltering/ 

Reviewed by Frank McKone
May 23



Sheltering is a major theatrical work of Indigenous Australian culture.

To place the importance of this work into context, if you see a top-class production of, say, Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O’Neill, you understand it is an expression of truth in American culture; as the Verdi opera La forza del destino is in Italian culture; or as Shakespeare’s The Tempest is in English culture.

Though you may not be American, Italian or English, such works cross cultural boundaries because they take us emotionally into experiencing universal truths which reflect our lives.  

Though, like me, you may not be an Indigenous Australian, the emotional impact of this three-part work is palpable, from the story of the people’s origin on Country – of hope and growth in Keeping Grounded – in dance form; through, on film in Brown Boys, the being “challenged by insecurities of longing and perceptions imposed on brown boys within family and social settings” in modern times; and finally in the dance work Sheoak, which symbolises the people’s “enduring cultural responsibilities” and “resilience through their enduring presence, and their scars remind us of survival and adaptation just as our ancestors did”.

Sheltering is a major work of theatre art in dance, movie, and held together by a powerful music and sound track, such that the strength of feelings of hope, of tragedy, and of elation when the whole community works in cultural harmony, left me shaken.  

And in a state of wonder at the originality of the presentation, especially of the choreography and dance skills, and the audio originating from the score created by David Duboo Page,  of a kind beyond any expectation even of ‘modern dance’.  

Frances Rings, of Wirangu and Mirning heritage, has taken up the tradition of Bangarra, from the Nunukul family of the Page brothers – Russell, David and long-time artistic director Stephen, and made a new work further establishing Australian Aboriginal culture, some 70,000 years old, in its rightful place, right now.

This work is surely one to be performed around the world.  

Ngunnawal Country
Canberra Theatre Centre
23 - 27 May 2026

Gadigal Country
Sydney Opera House
3 - 13 June 2026

Wurundjeri Country
Arts Centre Melbourne
18 - 27 June 2026

Meanjin
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
9 - 18 July 2026

Credits
Artistic Director - Frances Rings
    ____________________

SHEOAK

Choreographers:     Frances Rings
    The Dancers of Bangarra Dance Theatre
Composer:     David Page (dec.)
Set Designer:     Jacob Nash
Costume Designer:    Jennifer Irwin
Lighting Designer:     Karen Norris

KEEPING GROUNDED

Choreographers:     Glory Tuohy-Daniell
    The Dancers of Bangarra Dance Theatre

Composer:     Brendon Boney
Set Designer:     Shana O'Brien
Costume Designer:     Clair Parker
Lighting Designer:     Karen Norris
Rigging Consultant:     Katie McDonagh
Creative Mentors:     Jacob Nash, Matt Cornell

BROWN BOYS

Choreographer:     Daniel Mateo
Directors:     Cass Mortimer Eipper,     Daniel Mateo
Composer:     Leon Rodgers
Set and Costume Design:     Elizabeth Gadsby
Director of Photography:     Liam Brennan
Producer:     Michaela Le

 

 

 

 

LES MISERABLES

 

by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. Directed by Dale Rheynolds. Queanbeyan Players. The Q. Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. May 22 - June 6.

 

Queanbeyan Players have come up with an understated yet feeling production of Les Miserables. A packed house on opening night stayed absorbed through a long show that rightly focussed on telling the story.

 

Sent to the galleys for a crime of poverty Jean Valjean ( Dave Smith) is released but parole means he remains under the watchful eye of the law. The ongoing cruelty of this is focused in the character of the relentless Javert (Max Gambale) who will not give up on his pursuit.

Dave Smith (Jean Valjean)

How Valjean redeems himself over the years and rescues Cosette (Sophie Hope-White), the daughter of the unfortunate Fantine (Jess Waterhouse), with Javert always in relentless pursuit, is the basis of the tale. Add mid C19 social unrest in Paris with students taking to the barricades with the citizens and there is a powerful  and heady mixture.

 

The show never lets the audience off the hook. There are convincing performances and singing all round, from the thunder of Gambale’s unrelenting Javert to the gentler feeling of Smith’s focussed and moral (and well sung) Valjean.

 

Waterhouse makes something deeply spirited of the much mistreated Fantine, mother of Cosette, and does a fine job with I Dreamed a Dream.

 

Playing the young Cosette on opening night was a very confident and strong voiced Matilda Hutchinson who owned Castle on a Cloud. And as the chirpy street kid Gavroche, Harlan Blazeski filled the role with focussed energy and cheek, taking no nonsense from students like the charismatic Enjolras (William Allington).

William Allington (Enjolras)

 

(On other nights it may be Georgia Ginges or Hannah O’Keefe as Cosette and Ricky Best or Dude Gambale as Gavroche)

 

The amoral energies of the Thenardiers (Greg Sollis and Tina Robinson) who are exploiting the young Cosette until unmasked by Valjean, are done with relish by Greg Sollis and Tina Robinson.

 

Their daughter Eponine (India Cornwell) develops a different moral fibre as she grows up. On My Own is given feeling rendition by Cornwell as Eponine realises that student Marius loves Cosette, not her.

Sophie Hope-White (Cosette) and Alexander Unikowski (Marius)

As the older Cosette Hope-White is a warm and believable daughter to Valjean, well partnered by Alexander Unikowski as Marius. He has a lively stalwart presence and singing voice, particularly moving when he recalls his dead student comrades in Empty Chairs at Empty Tables as their spirits stand holding lit candles.

 

That last is a lovely effect and the show indeed benefits from a certain simplicity in the settings.  This enables a largely unseen backstage army to keep the scenes moving in a long and complex piece. The old follow spot operator in me might want to bring the light levels up a tad on faces in solo numbers. But at least the orchestra can be in a pit of sorts at the Q rather than hidden away behind the scenery. This is a visually tight show relying on great team work.

 

And it’s also got the virtue of asking a little more of the audience in its treatment of social justice. A fine evening of music and song but also a story to make one think.

 

Alana Maclean

 

LES MISERABLES

 

Les Miserables. Book and lyrics by Alain Boublil. Composed by Claude Schoenberg. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo.

Directed by Dale Rheynolds. Movement Director Belinda Hassall. Musical Director Brigid Cummins. Assistant Director Sarah Powell.  Costume Designer Helen McIntyre. Lighting Designer Zac Harvey (Eclipse). Sound Designer Telia Jansen (Eclipse) Production Mager David Tricks. Conductor Jen Hinton. Repetiteur Sam Row/ Nick Catanzariti. Stage Manager Rachel Jordan. Properties Master Mel McDonald. The Q Theatre. Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. May 22-June 6 2026. Bookings: www.queanbeyanplayers.com

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Dave Smith as Jean Valjean

 

When one thinks of musical theatre icons of the twentieth century Boublil and Schoenberg’s masterpiece is at the top of the list. For a largely amateur company like the Queanbeyan Players to take up the challenge to stage Les Miserables takes courage and the best talent in town under the auspices of a first rate musical theatre company that has built an envious reputation for producing top quality productions over recent years. Any doubts that I may have had were dispelled as soon as the lights came up on the convicts slaving away at the oars under the cruel eye of Inspector Javert (Max Gambale). What unfolds over the evening is a new production of Les Miserables of which Queanbeyan Players can be enormously proud. If you have never seen a production of Les Miserables then Queanbeyan Players’ production currently playing at The Q Theatre is not to be missed. If you have seen one or more productions then you will be thrilled, excited and moved by a production carefully and imaginatively directed by Dale Rheynolds, authentically costumed in period dress by Helen McIntyre with musical direction by Brigid Cummins and set against an evocative set with lighting adding to the aura and impact by Zac Harvey of Eclipse  .

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo and set against the background of the 1832 Paris Uprising, the story of former convict Jean Valjean (Dave Smith) and his pursuit by the obsessed Inspector Javert is a powerful tale of injustice, tragedy, compassion and redemption. Claude-Michel Schoenberg’s magnificent composition and Alain Boublil’s lyrics embody the full scope of the drama from the suffering of the convicts (Work Song), Fantine’s  soulful longing in Jess Waterhouse’s rendition of I Dreamed a Dream and Cosette’s whimsical ballad Castle on a Cloud to the Ensemble’s stirring songs of revolution Do You Hear The People Sing and Upon These Stones (Building the Barricade). Treachery and avarice slither through every note of  Master of the House ,sung with obsequious relish by  Thenardier (Greg Sollis) and Madame Thenardier (Tina Robinson). Boublil’s book  and Shoenberg’s music conjure a dynamic adaption of Hugo’s novel in which we encounter a nation in which injustice is the oppressor of the innocent, fervour the passion of the rebellious and love and compassion the true values of the human spirit. Queanbeyan Players’ production is faithful to the spirit and the themes of both Victor Hugo’s rebellious novel and Boublil and Schoenberg’s musical version.

 

William Allington as Erjolas

 

Les Miserables is an actor’s musical which requires absolute conviction to character and story. Director Rheynolds and movement director Belinda Hassall and musical director Brigid Cummins have assembled a cast of Principals and Ensemble that capture the essence of the characters and the period. It is a challenge for a local company to scale the heights of this titan of musicals. As Jean Valjean and Javert, Smith and Gambale command the character, matching believability with excellent singing. From the very opening number, Gambale’s rich baritone imposes brutal authority on Javert and his breathtaking descent into the void hits a high note of his performance. Smith’s Jean Valjean exudes humanity as he traces the character’s journey. His fine tenor voice lends honesty and feeling to Who Am I and Bring Him Home. There are fine performances from the entire company but the principals deserve special commendation for bringing the characters and the drama so vividly to life through their characterization and their songs. Those I have not already mentioned include Adult Cosette (Sophie Hope-White) and her lover Marius (Alexander Unikowski) with a beautiful duet A Heart Full of Love, Eponine (India Cornwell) with a beautiful heartrending rendition of On My Own and Harlan Blazeski as the cheeky urchin Gavroche (Little People). William Allington gives another stirring performance with Do You Hear The People Sing and Drink With Me. There are also excellent performances from John Whinfield as Grantaire, Chris Bennie as the Bishop of Digne and David Cannel as Bamatabois. Note: The child roles of Young Cosette and Gavroche are alternated with Georgia Ginges, Matilda Hutchinson and Hannah O’Keefe playing Cosette on alternate performances and Ricky Best, Harlan Blazeski and Dude Gambale alternating as Gavroche. 

SS

 

Sophie Hope-White as Cosette and Alexander Unikowski as Marius 

 

In a musical so familiar and songs that keep swirling in my head, I wait for the goosebumps, the true gauge of whether I have been really moved and uplifted by a musical. One Day More at the close of Act One andDo You Hear The People Sing at the Epilogue succeeded. You will laugh at Gavroche’s impish child (Ricky Best), cry at Fantine’s death, be roused by the student’s resolve and feel moved by Valjean’s final scene. On opening night there were some technical hitches in finding the balance between the sound mix, the loudness of the orchestra, the clarity of diction in the vocals, but these are quibbles that should be easily ironed out and did nothing to diminish the rapturous reception of an enthusiastic audience that could not resist a well-deserved standing ovation.

Tina Robinson (Madame Thenardier) and Greg Sollis (Thenardier) and Ensemble

Queanbeyan Players’ production of Les Miserables is a visual spectacle that excites the eye, delights the ear and feeds the soul. The staging is wonderfully imaginative and director Reynolds and movement director Hassall has brought the period vividly to life. The use of blue LED lights at the front of the stage to “blind” the audience while the excellent orchestra played and the stagehands moved the large set unseen by the audience is a stroke of ingenuity to avoid the tedium of blackouts. It is an initiative that I would encourage all companies to consider.

I left The Q Theatre with You Can Hear The People Sing in my head and a spring in my step as though I had just visited an old and familiar friend. There is suffering and there is pain, injustice and social deprivation, but there is also redemption and a happy wedding and a final number of hope and salvation and all in this triumphant production that is not to be missed.

Photos - Ben Appleton. Photox