South Pacific (01/04/11, WYP)

A weekly run of theatre trips in April begin on Friday with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. Rather than a touring spectacular with a celebrity of dubious vintage, this performance was by Leeds Amateur Operatic Society (LAOS), but you'd never know they were amateur. Solid performances all round, although some of the extras/smaller parts calling for American accents were a little ropey, the overall impression was a good one. 

Set on a couple of islands in the South Pacific during WW2, the show tells the story of Nellie Forbush and her love affair with Frenchman Emile de Becque, with a sub-plot involving dashing Joseph Cable and a dalliance with Liat, a Tonganese girl and daughter of comedy character Bloody Mary. Mixed in with a plot to get one over on the Japs, it's all quite a jolly jape, although one in which the cruelty of war kills off one of the main characters off stage. Still, there's always time for a song and dance. I found I knew a handful of the tunes, not realising their provenance in this show, including Some Enchanted Evening, There Is Nothin' Like a Dame, Happy Talk, and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair. 

Nellie Forbush could be a very irritating character, but Gemma Durkin's charm managed to stop this happening. There's a strange scene later on when Nellie refuses de Becque's proposal after learning he had a Polynesian wife previously, and Cable turns down Liat because she's not white and American. This blatant racism is shrugged off with a number called You've Got To Be Carefully Taught that argues the characters have been brought up with these prejudices. It explains things but doesn't excuse them, and although it's not made a big deal of (Nellie realises how much she loves her Frenchman in the end) it leaves a bit of a sour taste behind. I suppose it's honestly reflecting an attitude of the time though, it just jars alongside the upbeat jollity of the rest of the show.