“The challenge was to stage an immense novel, 1500 pages which belong not only to literary history, but to the human race” says Luca Doninelli, author of the theatrical adaptation of Les Miserables, the masterpiece by Victor Hugo, staged by Franco Però. A work which speaks to every era, because it touches on important universal themes: dignity, suffering, mercy, justice, redemption.
“An important motivation for this choice - explains the director - comes from the situation we are experiencing in western society, where we see the relentless widening of the gap between the “very rich” and the “very poor”, between those who are a part of society and those who are on the side-lines. Victor Hugo continues to amaze us and surprise us by the topicality of his work, for the capacity to take on a wide range of themes, and to bring together positive and negative moments.
In the lead role, that of Jean Valjean, Franco Branciaroli defines his character as “a strange saint, an angelic-Faustian figure. The portrait of a humanity which is perhaps yet to come”.