By Jonathan Grant

Autumn of 1942, Chelinot, France: The Nazi occupiers have been in town for two years and, aside from the occasional Neanderthal henchman overstepping the line, have lived in harmony with the locals whom they govern. But now, as a stranger comes to town, their relative peace is disturbed and they must decide what to do: should they follow orders against their will, stay and resist, or should those that can flee?

A World War II Les Mis, Chelinot, written by Daniel Byrne, is a sensitive and thought-provoking portrayal of life in occupied France, the “Final Solution”, and the psyche of ordinary German soldiers and their puppet gendarmes, who are carrying out orders they don’t necessarily agree with. Fused with the music and lyrics of Michael Cryne, Chelinot doesn’t ever hit the inspirational depths of Cameron Macintosh’s long-running musical, but it does have a catchy signature tune and some cleverly choreographed scenes that pull all the right emotional chords, if not quite hard enough.

Sadly though these moments, the best two mirrored duologues as the townspeople looked for their loved ones, were not frequent enough and thus the performance wasn’t able to sustain an emotional intensity that the subject matter undoubtedly required. Nor was this aided by the acting which, save for the performances of Malene (Nikki Gerrard), Captain Einseitz (Ross Forder), and Schultz (Alistair Gillyatt), was flat and didn’t convey the depths of feeling that Byrne must have intended.

Moreover, Alan Richardson who played the petulant Andre was almost obnoxious to watch; his performance saved only by the good fortune of having a voice that complemented the talented Gerrard. Unfortunately the voices of the cast in general were not strong enough for top-class musical drama and a couple of the songs would have been lost completely if not for a large supporting ensemble that echoed the words from behind the audience. Yet, this ensemble created too many walk-on parts and this only served to muddy the relationships between the characters.

Nevertheless, this production does have many positives and I don’t want to be too critical. Having the five-man orchestra as the backdrop for the entire play adds a class and elegance reminiscent of the smoky 1940s music hall that our characters frequent. Similarly pleasing was the lighting which, although subtle, was used to good effect, most noticeably during the duologues. Likewise, the script has a nice little twist that turns our story of scolded love into something far more sinister.

This is a good piece of fringe theatre but it doesn’t compel me to want to see it again.

The production at the