Les Mis in Brighton - is Javert really the villain of the piece? Maybe not! - video Dailymotion

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Javert is the villain of the piece, isn’t he? Well, no, it’s really not as simple as that, insists Wayne Roberts who takes on the role as Brighton Theatre Group presents the UK amateur premiere of Les Misérables – Let The People Sing!

Transcript

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.

Les Mis in Brighton - is Javert really the villain of the piece? Maybe not!

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