The New Vic often tries to do something different with its festive production, and the 2024 offering is probably something you won’t find anywhere else this year or indeed any other Christmas.
There’s only one other BTG listing of The Three Musketeers to date in 2024. The production at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester is a musical, while Theresa Heskins’s adaptation for the New Vic starts from an unusual position: the cast were chosen for their fighting ability before their acting.
In the programme, fight director Philip d’Orléans says this is remarkable: “in 25 years of fight directing, no company I’ve ever worked with has prioritised fighting skill first!”
The result is a swashbuckling romp with great pace that makes the most of the theatre’s in-the-round space and has more than its fair share of spectacular moments.
New Vic artistic director Heskins allows her actors to show the full range of their sword-fighting skills without altering too much of the original story.
She intended to create a tale about social mobility, inclusion, friendship and how to achieve your dreams without hurting others. Those things come through strongly, although when I attended a morning performance for schools, it was obvious the young children were captivated by the action scenes, especially the ones done cleverly with slow-motion flashbacks. They also hugely enjoyed D’Artagnan’s descent from the roof on a wire, and they joined in with the dancing at a sumptuous ball in the royal palace.
The Three Musketeers has a relatively large cast, 16 actors helping to tell the story of D’Artagnan, a young swordsman from the provinces determined to find fame and fortune in Paris.
With so many people on stage, it’s difficult for everyone to develop their characters sufficiently and leave a lasting impression. But Lemar Moller, who recently graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, makes a good stab at D’Artagnan, his innocence of the world contrasting with his desire to make something of himself.
There are strong performances from Louis J Rhone as the noble Athos who always wins in a fight, Thomas Dennis as ambitious yet gallant Aramis and Hadley Smith as good-hearted Porthos.
New Vic regular Gareth Cassidy, who has played a variety of roles, shows he is totally comfortable as the effete King, while Emma Symmonds gives the Queen a dotty disposition. Charlotte Price, one of several actors making their first appearance at the New Vic, is suitably sinister as the spy Milady, and Perry Moore is threateningly dominant as the Cardinal.
The youngsters in the audience also enjoyed Farrah Hughes whenever she appeared with a puppet’s head as the horse Buttercup, who kicks out at anyone who gets in her way.
A scene in which D’Artagnan is taught how to be a musketeer and another in which he is patrolling the palace battlements are slightly repetitive. There is also a reference to hanging, although this didn’t seem to upset the young audience. But the overall message is you have a choice between right and wrong and everyone should do as the king proclaimed: be nice to each other.
The Three Musketeers doesn’t have the usual festive look about it—but it’s well worth seeing for its inventiveness and panache.