Jonathan Holloway - Les Miserables Interview

A new adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, Les Misérables, by Jonathan Holloway, forms part of OVO’s 2025 summer season.

Prisoner 24601, Jean Valjean, is released from prison and begins his bitter struggle for redemption. At his heels is his nemesis, the ruthless, puritanical policeman Javert, whose life’s work is to recapture Valjean.

Jonathan Holloway

Be prepared for a punchy and deeply moving ensemble drama.  Set in a time when riot and revolution were in the air, this epic story of love, injustice and atonement is as relevant now as it ever was. 

Jonathan Holloway makes his directorial debut for OVO with this actor-musician led revival of Hugo’s magnificent novel first produced in 1997 at the Edinburgh Festival and since performed across the globe. Jonathan founded multi-award-winning touring company Red Shift and has reinvented classics, made crowd-embedded performance, pocket musicals, circuses and new work for UK and international touring, as well as writing copiously for the BBC. 

Ahead of the run we caught up with Jonathan to learn more.

What can you tell me about your production of Les Misérables? 
The script and the show were originally created to be performed by my own company at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1997, then on tour throughout the UK.  It's intended to be a celebration of Victor Hugo - the man who wrote the novel and whose funeral was attended by three million people.  It's a ‘warts and all' celebration of Paris, and is about the Paris Commune, and not the French Revolution.  I am not really interested in making overblown theatre which blurs the important line between cinema and the stage.  Hence, it's a show that uses simple props and a cast of just six versatile actors to conjure the characters and events featured in one of the greatest historical novels ever written.
 
What inspired you to want to create this adaptation which was originally seen in 1997? 
There's a mischievous pleasure in riding along on the fame of one of the best musicals of all time, and yet to be doing it for an audience that is primarily beyond that cultivated by full on commercial productions.
 
Naturally, people both associate Les Misérables with the novel but also the long-running musical. How does your version differ from the musical?  
We have a cast of six immensely talented, very physical actors, who relish the job of delivering Hugo’s huge canvas through invention and play a multitude of characters along the way.
 
This production plays in the open air, do you have to prepare the piece any differently for this?

It must be ‘big’ enough, and robust enough to deliver the plot and the numerous characters employed by Hugo. I think there's an inherent thrill about watching a show outdoors which creates a marvellous sense of occasion.
 
How has the creative process been so far?
I chose a terrific bunch of very versatile actors who can change character and turn on a sixpence.  I hope the audience will be as impressed by them as I am.
 
What was the first piece of theatre that you saw that had a big impact on you?
When I was a teenager, I was at an inner London comprehensive to whom the Greater London Education Authority gave free tickets for shows.  Among the many things I saw were ‘Jumpers’ and ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’.  The quality, ideas and performances set the benchmark for me, and opened doors that I couldn't help but walk though.
 
What keeps you inspired?
The smiles sometimes confused concentration and the applause of audiences whose collective wisdom seems to recognise something special.
 
What do you hope an audience member takes away from this production?
That theatre - both its making and consumption - is a major part of this nation’s achievement and neglecting it just doesn't make sense.
 
Where can audiences see the show?
The show opens this year's Roman Theatre Open Air Festival in St Albans, Hertfordshire and runs from 6th - 21st June 2025. Tickets for Les Misérables and all other productions are available at www.ovo.org.uk