South Pacific

Seriously entertaining!

SOUTH PACIFIC

National Theatre Company

Director: Trevor Nunn

The libretto for this well-known show about US servicemen caught up in the war against Japan in the islands of the Far East, was written by Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960). Born in New York, from a Jewish background and studying law as a student, he was a crucial figure in raising musical entertainment above the banal and slapstick into the realm of serious popular culture.

One of the main reasons for this was Hammerstein's willingness to take on stories which confronted moral and spiritual issues in his productions. In South Pacific the question of racism underlies the main romantic plot, and this present production has gone to the length of finding performers of the appropriate ethnic background to play the different characters. This may be very PC but it is also fascinating to see how this show first staged in 1949 speaks to our increasingly multicultural world.

In all his great shows, Hammerstein's lyrics point to a world beyond this one. Often this is achieved in a popular but uplifting way, which touches people's deepest yearnings. In South Pacific that world is conjured up by the forbidden island of Bali Ha'i. Also in the story the French plantation owner, Emile de Becque, who is required to help the US forces, has come to the islands to escape a murder charge for killing a man who brutalised his home town. It is this character who mainly provides the redemption theme in the tale.

There are wonderful dance routines and songs, raucous (There is nothing like a dame, I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair), romantic (Some enchanted evening, I'm in love with a wonderful guy), and reflective (Bali Ha'i, This nearly was mine). It is a show which touches many emotions in a very human way and shows a generosity of spirit which reflects the common grace of God. Meanwhile, I'm sure there is a very interesting PhD to be written on a Christian understanding of Hammerstein's worldview.

JEB