South Pacific (review)

When an old theatre piece portraying interracial romance in the traditional form is revived, audiences normally wish that the new version would challenge issues ignored or unexplored in the original production. This is especially so when the original was initially created with racial stereotypes and segregated casting. A totally new musical could then emerge from this re-thinking/re-visioning process. That was the expectation when I attended the recent production of South Pacific at Arena Stage.

Director Molly Smith attempted to shed light on places that the original did not explore. The story revolves around two couples: Nellie Forbush (a Navy nurse) and Emile de Becque (a French expatriate), and Joseph Cable (a young Marine Lieutenant) and Liat (a Polynesian woman). The action takes place during World War II. Smith's production emphasizes the racial prejudices that encumber Nellie and Cable. She underlines Nellie's racism by presenting her as deeply sympathetic to Cable's decision to abandon Liat. In this production, Nellie and Cable seem alike as they attempt to defend their parochialism. Nellie's super cheerful, witty, and vivacious nature only highlights her deep-rooted racism. Nellie and Cable's common ground is intensely expressed in their duet, "My Girl Back Home," which is followed by Cable's "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught." Kate Bald-win's aura, as Nellie, consists of a mixture of charm, naivete, and directness (she reminds me of Shirley Temple) that immensely contributes to creating the character's unfortunate but very typical flaws. Brad Anderson's youth and all-American look reinforce Smith's meta-message/critique of easily overlooked parochialism and its innocent potential for more blatant forms of racism. Certainly, these two characters' racial prejudices are chilling for those spectators who have learned to be self-reflexive about racist issues over the past decades.

Smith intentionally cast white actors as the Seabees and nurses, while casting non-white actors as the natives of the island (as well as of Bali Ha'i), thereby making clear the racial demarcation. Smith justifies her casting in her program notes by stating that her intention was to expose rather than diminish the racism of the musical. She creates an impressive opening scene that contrasts the energetic arrival of the Seabees, which contrasts with the curious silent islanders. Her decision to highlight the racial demarcation in her production could be read as a conscious effort to inscribe new implications for the old Broadway hit. However, many audience members may have interpreted the visual demarcation between races as an affirmation rather than a critique of racial stereotyping.

Set designer Kate Edmunds places an array of red flowers around the stage so as to create an illusory representation of the Pacific. Yet, subtle details—a round table and chairs in Emile's mansion, military vehicles for the commanders (electrically operated), and a symbolic rock in Bali Ha'i for Joe and Liat—make it clear that there are invading, more powerful, presences in that idyllic world.

The preponderance of such visual messages and their echo in melodious well-known songs may imply a simple love story between Nellie and Emile de Becque that is set against the background of an exotic and mystical milieu. The love affair between Cable and Liat adds ethnic spices; their first meeting is typical of dramatic encounters between American men and native prostitutes—a familiar trope in later musicals such as The World of Suzie Wong and Miss Saigon. Liat's quiet (she sings but does not speak), subservient nature is contrasted by the extremely comical and powerful performance of Lori Tan Chinn who plays her mother, Bloody Mary. Chinn's theatrical weight equals that of the Seabees, especially in the scene "Another Part of the Island," proving the possibility of an Asian American actor emerging from the background of "ethnic others."

In the end, the love story of Nellie and Emile overshadows that of Liat and...