The story of "Les Miserables" is widely circulated and familiar thanks to the Queen's Theatre version of the play, but the details of the original book have gradually been lost in word of mouth, leaving only a vague outline of the story and the melody of the catchy song in my mind.

Needless to say, this was a triumph for commercial promotion, but at the same time, it was also a decline for literature and art. Today, the Théâtre de l'Almeida is a bold re-enactment of Victor Hugo's ukiyo-e in Paris.

The first act of the story, in the Queen's Theatre version, is less than 20 minutes long, and in the film, it is condensed into a 14-minute segment, with Jean-Argen as the absolute protagonist, connecting the story line and plot development. At this time, the Almeida Theater spent a full forty minutes to present the whole story magnificently.

Jean-Argent was an honest and diligent worker who had been helping his poor sister raise seven poor children, but one winter, when he could not find a job, he was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a piece of bread in order to prevent the children from starving to death.

During his imprisonment, Jean-Argent suffered from prison and escaped four times, but he never succeeded, and stood on the opposite side of morality and law with Xavier.

Born in prison, Shawei is a descendant of prisoners, and in order to wash away the shame caused by his bloodline, he has become an unwavering advocate of law and order, even though the social order of the time has decayed and backward, even if he discovers the backwardness of the law and the consequences of it, the paranoia in his head still stands on the side of the old traditional forces, maintaining the pathological and crumbling system of society.

Under Xavier's oppression, Jean-Argent's sentence was increased from five to nineteen years, and he was indeliblely marked as a prisoner of hard labor. Even if Jean-Argent was released on parole, he could not find a job, he did not even have a place to stay, and even if he did the same hard work, the parolee was paid only half of what others did.

Val-Argent, unwilling to be bullied in this way, was so distressed that when he was discouraged, he met Bishop Mirière. Bishop Mirière, a man of integrity, kindness and compassion, who still had a glimmer of hope for society, kindly took Jean-Argent and let him spend the night in his home.

However, in desperation, Jean-Argent stole the bishop's silverware in order to make a living, and prepared to abscond. On the way to escape, Jean-Agen was again caught by the police and sent back, but at the critical moment, Bishop Mirière claimed that the silverware was not stolen by Jean-Jean, but that he had given it to him, along with the silver candlestick, thus saving Jean-Argent from prison.

In the face of the generosity and benevolence of this bishop, Jean-Argent was moved and gained the courage to be reborn, determined to turn from evil to good.

In the original book, Victor Hugo used four volumes to present the first stage of the transformation of Jean-Agen, which was majestic and magnificent, and today, in the Théâtre de Almeida, the whole story revolves around the three characters of Jean-Agen, Chavoy and Bishop Mirière, presenting the essence of the original book in a magnificent manner, and infusing it with its own reflection and exploration.

The greatest innovation of the Teatro Almeida version is that in the first act, the role of Jean-Argen is weakened, and the characters of Chavoy and Bishop Mirière are more vividly and fully delineated.

Savoy represents the sick old-fashioned, while Bishop Mirière represents a firm believer.

In the Theatre of the Queen's version, both characters are reduced to supporting roles in the first act, in a sense the personal epic of Jean-Agen, like the "Gladiator" movie, while in the Theatre Almeida version, the two characters form an iron triangle with Jean-Argent, presenting the life of society in all its forms, grandeur and exuberance.

What's even more commendable is that after the reduction of the scene, Jean-Argent not only did not dim the light, but became more distinct:

Under the oppression and pursuit of the old forces, Jean-Argent was reduced from a hard-working and sincere worker to a criminal, and gradually slipped into the abyss of sin, with no place to live, but under the traction of faith and hope, he peeled off the decaying and festering social residue, recaptured a glimmer of hope, changed his mind, and returned to the original track.

Everyone knows that historically, the popular uprising of Paris broke out, which finally pushed the French Revolution and overthrew the rule, and now, in Jean d'Argent, the audience has a glimpse of the future history, and this is undoubtedly the success of the Théâtre Almeida version.

What's more –

"Where did John Codd find these outstanding actors, and how did he succeed?"

Aristair Smith's eyes were filled with interest. For London's West End, a pioneering repertoire is just as important as a group of powerful rising stars, because it means artistic creation as well as future development.

In the first act, Ezra Miller plays Shawey, who is a little immature. His advantage lies in his figure, his disadvantage lies in the singing section, and the rhythm and strength of the whole performance, in contrast to the other two actors, occasionally slightly excessive, occasionally slightly insufficient, for the pursuit of perfection of the audience, this is a pity, but objectively speaking, it does not affect the viewing effect.

Because of Ezra's evil spirit and madness, Shawei is infused with a unique paranoia, and the distortion of the dark temperament bursts out with a new charm.

The play has been staged at the Queen's Theatre for almost 30 years, with a 15th and 25th anniversary editions alternating between the 15th and 25th anniversary editions, but today, Aristair has once again tapped into the charm and possibilities of Shaviel's character. It's definitely a big bonus.

However, the real test of Savoy is yet to come. According to the Queen's Theatre version, the second act ends with Shaviy's singing, a song called "Stars", which presents his inner entanglements and struggles, paranoia and madness. Whether Ezra's strength is strong enough to be an important piece of the puzzle for Almeida's opening night depends on this.

In addition, Andy-Conaghan's Bishop Mirière has almost all of the singing passages newly written, and almost the entire character has been completely reshaped. Solid fundamentals, excellent control, and excellent expressiveness show his strength in the singing of Bishop Mirière's one-man show shortly after the opening of the first act, which is impressive.

If it weren't for Lan Li, Andy would undoubtedly be the biggest takeaway from the first act of today's premiere night. In the confrontation of the Iron Triangle, this character who came out of nowhere did make a deep impression, but there was just no if.

For the average viewer, in the first thirty-five minutes of the first act, Lan Li is undoubtedly mediocre.

Attention may fall on Bishop Mirière, a new character, both in terms of singing and plot, or on Savoy, whose unique distorted and dark temperament is presented in an expanded plot that reveals the character's ins and outs in a complete and clear way.

In comparison, Jean-Argent, who has not made much breakthrough in the content and plot of the performance, is simply too familiar to every audience, but has lost its attractiveness. More importantly, Lan Li deliberately restrained the performance intensity and maintained the balance and integrity of the entire repertoire, so that the light did not appear.

But for veteran audiences and professionals alike, in the first thirty-five minutes of Act I, Lan Li is undoubtedly the most sparkling.

The whole performance is integrated, easy to use, and easy to use, from the singing section to the body, from the steps to the movements, from the lines to the expressions, from the use of the stage space to the body movement control, there is no effort to be seen, the solid and steady basic skills and the perfect expressiveness, truly interpret the drama stage art pleasing to the eye.

Yes, pleasing to the eye. That's the best thing Aristere can say in his mind right now.

The details of Lan Li's performance are undoubtedly the most moving, it may be just a look up, a look, or a footstep, a pause, every detail is integrated with the character, plot and story, and finally through the emotional explosion of the singing segment, the finishing touch. Capturing the vividness and profundity of those details is a pleasure for an old theater fan like Aristair.

Aristere has played in the theater industry for most of his life, and has watched countless plays and countless actors, not thousands, but tens of thousands. For him, the pleasure of watching the play is gradually decreasing, not to mention the surprise, and many plays tend to start drowsy after watching the first ten minutes of the play - because he can already predict the average level of the whole play.

For Aristair now, there is really not much fun in the play. The actor's performance is one of them.

Today, Lan Li's performance really caught Aristere's eyes. Not because of the Berlinale or the Oscars, not because of John Cord's praise and Emma Fielding's desperate betting, just because of the blue ceremony. Absolute strength makes the performance a pleasure, and at the same time, it also makes watching the performance a pleasure.

Cameron Mackintosh's version of "Les Miserables", Aristere no longer remembers how many times he has seen it, eighty times is the least, and he strongly suspects that the numbers are approaching three digits. So, he knew very well that the end of the first act was coming. John still borrows from Cameron Mackintosh's classic version, ending the first act with a monologue by Jean Argent.

"Valjean's-Soliloquy", the final scene of Act I, brings to life the transformation of Valjean's heart: he is touched by the kindness and integrity of Bishop Mirière, and the character is truly sublimated. The difficulty of this clip is comparable to that of "Hamlet", and it puts forward super high requirements for both mood and performance.

Aristair is now beginning to look forward to it, looking forward to what will happen to the Lanli version of the monologue?