Pupils at Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools left audiences wanting more in their recent production of Les Misérables, the School Edition.

Directed by Mr Philip Griffin and Miss Sarah Fowler, performances ran from Wednesday, March 14th to Friday, March 16th at the Blake Theatre in Monmouth.

With a cast of 66 students and a 15-strong orchestra, consisting of pupils, staff, professionals and teachers, the performance was met with much positive reception, for good reason!

Set in France in the early 19th century, pupils portrayed idealistic students in this tale of loss and despair, love, law and morals, with characters caught amongst a revolutionary period in France.

The story revolves around a convict, Jean Valjean, who escapes parole after spending 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread.

Valjean was played by Tobias Upham, who successfully carried the show and gave one of the most memorable performances of the evening with Bring Him Home, which was sang beautifully and acted with a good emotional range.

Strong performances also came from Cosette, Carys Davies, whose strong singing and believable acting was clearly demonstrated in In My Life.

The object of her affection, Marius Pontmercy, was played by Christian Loizou, whose singing shone in Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.

A stand out was Gavroche, played perfectly by Henry J Evans. He had fantastic energy, and singing and acting worthy of high praise.

The iconic I Dreamed a Dream was also executed with confidence and talent by Angelika Shortanova, who played Fantine.

The ruthless policeman Javert, Oliver S Jones, also had a great character development, and his death was moving and ironically enjoyable.

The orchestra were fantastic, tackling this award-winning score with ease and skill, and were very good at following the performers.

The costumes were also good, and the set was very effective. However, the set changes, at times, were a little bit clumsy.

This is a performance the Haberdashers’ Schools can be proud of, and I look forward to seeing what they tackle next!