Barricades up in flames for real at Les Mis show in Cardiff

Image copyright
Peter Thompson Associates

Actors manning the barricades in a performance of Les Miserables came closer to reality than usual when the scenery was set on fire by accident.

The show at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff was paused for about 10 minutes as stagehands put out the small fire.

One theatregoer wrote: “I thought the fire was part of the show until all the dead bodies started running off set!”

The centre said there was a “small contained incident” on stage.

The fire did not appear to detract from the enjoyment of the show on Monday evening, with many people at first thinking it was meant to happen.

Helena Williams said in a tweet: “My first ever Les Miserables and Javert climbs over the barricade with a flaming torch and sets fire to it.

“Not part of the show! Cue fire extinguisher, rapid exit of corpses and lowering of safety curtain!”

Sionz called it a “superb performance” despite the fire while Sooz tweeted that the performance “has been paused – as Javert lit the barricades! Oops.”

Les Miserables is based on Victor Hugo’s novel and is set in early 19th Century France.

It covers the period of the Paris uprising of 1832 which saw revolutionaries take to the streets and build barricades in an attempt to bring down the rule of King Louis Philippe.

A Wales Millennium Centre spokeswoman said the production had only paused for eight minutes and confirmed no-one had been injured.

“There was a show stoppage last night due to a small contained incident on stage,” she added.

“We stopped the show in order to follow our normal safety procedures and the show was resumed a few minutes later.”