Martin Guerre Reviews: critics say Warchus’s stripped-back revival is skilful but the material still falls short

“It’s a tricksy, ambiguous musical that, from the looks of things, proactively decides to leave as much on the table as possible.”

“Whittled down to a punchy, no-interval 90 minutes, this version bears very little resemblance to its bloated previous incarnations.”

“Presented in the round, Rob Howell’s minimalist staging creates an immediate sense of intimacy, effectively turning the audience into complicit members of the insular community.”

“Small, character-driven scenes prove far punchier and more cohesive than the larger ensemble moments, where crowd mentality turns on a dime. Yet Lizzi Gee’s choreography successfully captures this mob fervour.”

“The chief reason to see the show is as a showcase for star Liv Andrusier.”

““Someday” stands out as a genuine Schönberg earworm, up there with an “I Dreamed A Dream” or “On My Own”.”

“Directorially, there are striking, powerful images throughout, not least the stark circularity of the opening and closing tableaus, which linger long after the curtain call.”

"This trimmed-down revival makes a compelling case for a long-misunderstood work."

“This radical revamp of the famously troubled ’90s musical is enjoyable but still not that great.”

“Every time Martin Guerre has been revived since its poorly received premiere in 1996, the tale of the 16th-century peasant has received not only a tinkering around the edges but a complete gutting and reconstituting.”

“Even in this semi-staged form, Warchus and designer Rob Howell make it look great with Traitors-esque black robes and simple splashes of colour coming from scarves and sashes, while red grit covers the floor, suggesting blood and soil and much else besides.”

“Warchus brings his magical ability to marshall a large cast with ease, and to transform the stage from full chorus numbers to quiet solos in an instant. It’s a smart and seamless treatment of the show.”

“A cracking cast carries it, too, especially Liv Andrusier’s Bertrande.”

“It is, simply, not a great musical. There are soaring solo melodies, contrapuntal chorus numbers, a sense of a score always bursting at its seams, but only a couple of numbers stand out.”

“The result is a restless musical about identity that can never quite find its own.”

“The large, northern-accented ensemble performs too well and the songs are too sumptuous for this to be boring.”

“Definitive or not, I found it intriguing rather than devastating, skilful more than soulful.”

“Warchus and co lean into the story’s central ambiguity.”

“It’s billed as “semi-staged”, but the folk-theatre aesthetic is plausible and visually pleasing.”

“Oliviers, please, for the dramatic lighting (by Hugh Vanstone, Luca Panetta and Toby Ison) that brings such grace to Rob Howell’s woody design.”

“The songs can be gorgeous, not least Live with Somebody You Love and a new one, Someday.”

“Shane O’Riordan is exceptional as the man who may or may not be Martin.”

“Complexity is good in storytelling, confusion is bad, and for too long I was just clinging on to who was who and what was what and wondering why the cast were daubed with bits of white make-up.”

“This reworked musical about a French peasant returning to his wife but suspected of being an imposter, is committed but over the top.”

“Indeed, it plays out like a pacy, screamy folk-horror, but one that takes itself far too seriously. Everyone wears black, and French rusticity is implied by northern English accents.”

“There’s some fine singing from the mostly young cast, particularly Liv Andrusier as Martin’s abandoned and then apparently, zestfully re-embraced wife Bertrande.”

“Some of the set numbers are very fine, particularly Someday and Live With Somebody You Love. But too many feel like sketchy placeholders, there to move the story on.”

“Unfortunately, everything here is a bit too obvious or on-the-nose, from the Traitors cloaks and chalk-smeared faces of the beginning to the flag-waving war flashbacks and the deployment of village idiot Benoit (Colin Ryan) and his doll-bride Louison for light relief.”

“Warchus’s direction, and Rob Howell’s basic design of a circle of benches strewn with red chaff, are succinct and effective. The lighting and the band are crisp. But my god it’s over the top.”

“Perhaps the story is itself the problem: the very mystery that makes the real-life tale of Martin Guerre so tantalising doesn’t lend itself to an easily resolved narrative.”

"Impossible not to be moved by Liv Andrusier’s performance."

The significant change to the story in this version is that it now centres on Bertrande, capturing, as its writers say in the programme, ’her truth’.”

“For this production, songs have been cut, added and reordered. New lyrics have been introduced, and an entirely fresh structure has been implemented”

“The sweeping orchestral score of the original 1996 version is now replaced with a six-piece chamber ensemble (who play beautifully), and the sound is more folk-infused than in previous incarnations.”

“For those who loved the orchestrations of the original (I count myself among them), it does feel as if something lush has been lost. It’s true that some of the melodies from the original have survived – although now they are more just snippets or nods to what went before.”

“Strangely, though, for all its reworkings and additions, the score ends up sounding in parts like it could have been lifted directly from Les Misérables, which is disappointing, given that this piece has always had its own musical identity.”

“The cast members are uniformly excellent, led by a sublime Liv Andrusier as Bertrande, who sings with such clarity and emotion that it’s impossible not to be moved by her performance, particularly when she performs Someday. She is joined by the ever-brilliant Caroline Sheen as Madame de Rols and a touching Colin Ryan as the scarecrow-loving Benoit.”

“Warchus has, inexplicably, decided to have them all singing in northern accents. It’s not entirely clear why, and doesn’t feel necessary.”

“It’s a swift affair but feels, at times, that the story is being rushed through at the expense of the emotional development of its characters.”