SAC/SAS Dramatic Society presents Les Misérables, Nov. 18-21

You probably know the story. Jean Valjean, released after nineteen years on a chain gang for stealing a loaf of bread, breaks his parole and starts a new life. He’s hunted for years by the relentless policeman, Javert, and he promises a dying factory worker, Fantine, that he’ll raise her daughter, Cosette.

Years later, in a city on the brink of revolt, their lives collide with a band of idealistic students who build a barricade and dare to believe they can change the world.

The SAC/SAS production brings this much-loved story right into the present day. Director William Scoular, SAC's Head of Drama & Film, began rehearsals with a question for the cast: what would it take for you to take to the streets? The cast looked at what they see in their own backyard, from the encampments to the food bank lines. They also looked at the students their own age who’ve been marching and blockading their schools in France and across Europe this fall.

“Les Mis is about students who take to the streets, and our cast are students, too. The first thing I had to figure out was how to make that story mean something to them,” William said. “I wanted them to really understand it and make it theirs, not play people out of a history book. Victor Hugo wrote about the people the world had decided not to see. I want our student audience to walk out having actually seen them.”

Set in a world that looks a lot like our own, the production pairs its young cast of 40 with striking visual projections, a live camera that puts the actors’ faces up on the big screen at the show’s most intimate moments, and a bold, stripped-back design. It’s all set to one of the greatest scores ever written for the stage, including I Dreamed a Dream, Bring Him Home, One Day More, and Do You Hear the People Sing?

“The entire creative team and I are so proud of these young performers,” William said. “They understand that this is a story about compassion and courage, and about young people who believe things can be better. When they sing Do You Hear the People Sing? they mean every word, and I think audiences are going to feel it.”