ALL for one, and one for all! It’s The Three Musketeers as you’ve never seen them before – in a world premiere production which marries the talents of the Royal Shakespeare Company and anarchic experimental theatre troupe Told by an Idiot.

And one thing is for certain. Even if you know Alexandre Dumas’s classic tale of adventure, romance and derring-do, you should expect the unexpected – because artistic director Paul Hunter doesn’t do boring. No two performances are likely to be the same.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The Three Musketeers will run at Stratford-upon-Avon’s iconic Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Saturday November 28 to Saturday January 9, with tickets priced from just £10, and is being touted as a festive fun production suitable for all the family.

Audiences are promised “a theatrical feast full of joy and a raging zest for life” boasting an international company of performers, captivating live music, anarchic physicality and a “charmingly unreliable” Spanish narrator in a wild new adaptation of the novel.

The synopsis reads: “It is 1625, or twenty-five past four. When the innocent D’Artagnan sets off to Paris to become a Musketeer, a life of danger, romance and anarchy lies ahead. Young King Louis XIII’s loose grip on power and his marriage is a delicious opportunity for the dastardly Cardinal Richelieu and mysterious Milady.
 
“Landing in the centre of this cut-throat world, D’Artagnan races through the streets and the battlefields on the trail of his abducted sweetheart Constance, fighting for honour and dodging the target on his back. But whenever strife is near, his new pals appear: The Three Musketeers. ‘One for all, and all for one!’”

Told by an Idiot director and co-founder Paul says: “In 1973, my father took me to the Selly Oak Odeon in Birmingham to see Richard Lester’s movie The Three Musketeers, starring Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch and Richard Chamberlain.

“It left a big impression on me, and I am delighted that, 53 years later, we will re-invent this classic tale at the RST. This raucously funny, romantic adventure yarn has something for everyone, and over the festive period we look forward to entertaining families in the style that only live theatre can do.”

Paul Hunter

Told by an Idiot’s work is experimental but always accessible. They avoid boredom at all costs and are fascinated by the space between laughter and pain, thriving on a sense of spontaneity and risk, celebrating the unpredictability of performance.

Tickets for The Three Musketeers at Stratford-upon-Avon’s iconic Royal Shakespeare Theatre go on sale from Wednesday March 18. Head to the RSC website for availability, booking and information.