00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, group arts registrar at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely
00:06to speak to Javert, Wayne Roberts. Now, Wayne, you are playing Javert in Brighton Theatre
00:11Group's UK amateur premiere of Les Mis, which Let the People Sing, which is at Brighton
00:16Theatre Royal this summer, August the 13th to Saturday, August the 23rd. Now, goodness,
00:22what a role to play. And I said to you, he's the baddie of the piece, and you leapt in
00:28and defended him. He's not the baddie in your eyes, though.
00:31No, I wouldn't say he is the baddie. At the end of the day, you know, he's, it's a bit
00:36of a pun there, one of the titles of the song there. But at the end of the day, he is a police
00:42officer doing his job. He's upholding the law. Doing it to an extreme, though, perhaps.
00:51Yeah, absolutely. Doing it to an extreme somewhat. But yeah, in his eyes, he's just, you know,
00:56doing his job and trying to apprehend this criminal who's gone on the run. So, yeah.
01:01And presumably, in the back of his mind is what would happen if people like him didn't
01:05uphold the law.
01:06Well, absolutely. And in his mind, he's a criminal. He'll, you know, he'll commit another
01:09crime. He doesn't believe that a man can change, which is the real journey that he goes through
01:15to actually realise that people can change. Because over the many years of hunting this
01:20man, he witnesses this man's change and, and the acts of kindness and bravery that
01:24he performs.
01:27And obviously, his view of justice is absolutely black and white. But behind that, there is a
01:32great complexity to him, isn't there? As we know from his, well, his ending.
01:37Yeah, absolutely. It's a complex character. And he goes through an enormous journey throughout
01:42the show. As we see him at the start, he's in the infancy of his career. And you see his
01:48career progressed as he goes up the ranks of the law. And ultimately, it's his belief
01:56system that is his undoing in the end.
01:58Yeah. Oh, it's going to be fantastic. And how are rehearsals going so far?
02:04Rehearsals are going amazingly. We've got such a fantastic cast. Everyone in the cast is
02:09absolutely incredible. It was a really big rehearsal, sorry, audition process. So, so many
02:16people auditioned to be a part of this. 78% of the people who auditioned weren't going
02:21to be successful. So just to be a part of the show, it would have been an amazing thing.
02:27But to have actually secured the role of Javert is incredible. And it's a little bit cliche,
02:31but I really am sort of, you know, living a dream at the moment.
02:35Quite. And adding a layer to it all is the fact that you are Javert throughout, but the
02:41Jean Valjean's alternate. You will have a different...
02:44Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Jean Valjean is such an enormous part and vocally very demanding.
02:52Javert isn't quite as vocally demanding. So I think that's probably the reason why they've
02:57chosen to double cast it. But both of the Valjeans are absolutely incredible, stunning performances
03:03and both unique to the individual person as well.
03:06Well, what a fantastic opportunity. Congratulations, getting the role and all very best wishes for
03:13its realisation on stage, Brighton Theatre Royal, Wednesday, August 13th to Saturday, August
03:1923rd. Wayne, lovely to speak to you and all the best.
03:22Thank you, Phil. Lovely. Thank you.
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