The 1955 screen adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! production is an annual fixture on our screens during the festive period. It has also had critically acclaimed success with big stage revivals on our shores through the years. The latest of these revivals is a Bard Summerscape production, that after a Tony Award-winning run on Broadway in 2019, comes to the Young Vic, writes Christopher Peacock.
This story of cowboys and farmers looking to find love with the local sweethearts in smalltown rural Oklahoma gets a truly modern retelling, without changing a word. The first impact comes from the staging, in the thrust with a seven-piece orchestra sat at the head of the stage, and with tables bordering the audience as if we were guests at the Box Social that is at the heart of the drama.
Brightly lit and clad in light pine, this staging had more purpose than just the aesthetic. The singing, especially in the chorus numbers, bounced about the space and left notes hanging around, and the bright lighting reflecting off the pine opened the space up. With Scott Zielinski’s lighting design mainly being the bright exposing house lights, scenes when this was changed up with colour or with blackouts, punctuated the show well and created focus in the show’s emotional and troubling exchanges. A highlight being in blackout whilst Curly is gaslighting Jud, with added projections of Jud’s face on the back wall, this ramped up the sinisterness of the moment.
This production is at its best when delving into the darker sides of the characters. The men are either hopelessly pathetic at best or uncomfortably manipulative at worst. The women, on the other hand, now have a little more depth, either in the form of enablers like Aunt Eller or they have more agency. Marisha Wallace’s performance as Ado Annie Carnes moves the role from naïve floozy to a woman who can take or leave anything she wants, all with great comic timing and truly impressive vocals.
Performances from the whole cast and orchestra were flawless, not a missed beat, not a strained note. From the timing of opening cans of Bud Light to the choral numbers, the tightness of the production is a joy.
There are moments in the second act that hint at larger changes of style and the alterations to the climactic final scene are not as succinct as the rest of the show. The redefining of this tale brings irony to lines not initially intended for laughs, its analysis of the characters highlights the change of attitudes over a century on from when it was set and 80 years on from when it was written. The brilliance of the songs is celebrated in this imaginative telling and have you humming all the way home.
Young Vic, The Cut, SE1 8LZ until 25th June. Times: Mon-Sat 7.30pm; Wed & Sat matinees 2.30pm. Admission: £10 – £65
Booking: www.youngvic.org – 0207 922 2922
Images: Marc Brenner