Master Thenardier follows the fictional life and times of Thenardier an Innkeeper in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserable. From his early false imprisonment and release to his expulsion from the French Military academy to his employment impersonating a famous Tiger at the Paris Zoo, Master Thenardier is a parody of the tribulations of Hugo’s protagonist Jean Val Jean. This is Cinderfella meets the absurd old comedy of Aristophanes (think Monty Python) meets the Japanese storytelling tradition known as Rakugo.
Using only handheld fans as props, minimal costume changes and requiring the performers to remain in a kneeling position for it’s entirety, Master Thenardier allows it’s audience to enter more deeply into the world of imagination than usual because of it’s formal limitations.
