Oklahoma at Chichester Festival Theatre

Some old curmudgeons regard Oklahoma as corny; a romantic singing and dancing ‘fest’ for the girls.

Well Oklahoma may still be as American as sliced bread but it has developed real substance under the direction of John Doyle at the Chichester Festival Theatre. It runs there until 29^th August.

This edgy new version of the much-loved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical brings out the dark and light sides of humanity; and high-spirited action follows the initiative.

There are also bursts of ribald good humour and it’s clear that everyone feels like singing along to the music.

The audience clapped all the way through the finale and, if the actors had been less decorous, there would surely have been a standing ovation.

The actual set for CFT’s Oklahoma is simple - two silky wings of fabric to the left and right - but the cast is simply stunning.

The opening scene depicts Oklahoma on a golden, summer’s morning shortly before the farming community’s annual ‘hoe-down’. The girls are sighing for romance and the boys and men are hoping for more; much more, some of them.

No sooner has the cast of about 23 - and a cavalcade of apples - rolled onto the stage, than Michael Xavier lets rip with the joyous: Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’.

Xavier gives Curly attitude - the confident, strutting, exuberant attitude of a good-looking man who thinks he is irresistible to the girl of choice. But the girl in his sights -  Laurey (Leila Benn Harris - is not so sure.

But underlying the exuberance of the dancing and singing comes an early warning of just how quickly light can turn to darkness.

When Curly sings of how he’s going to take Laurey to the party in The Surrey with The Fringe on Top, Laurey feels annoyed at his assumptions but uneasy about Jud Craige Els); like Curly, Jud also believes he has a legitimate claim on Laurey.

Laurey is not played as an ingénue; the quality I associated with the role. Unlike most of the other girls, she appears to be a thinker; not so much feisty as a little fey. But Leila Benn Harris sings her like a bird.

Plying a brilliantly subversive commentary as ‘first lady’ is Louise Plowright as Aunt Eller; she takes it away it as ‘sassy old crone’.

Generally, the ‘girl talk’ is about who’s going with whom to the dance, where the annual auction of the girls’ annual hampers will be the highlight of the event. But it might be construed that the auction is really for the girls, themselves.

And at the centre of the competition are Curly and Jud, depicting elements of light and dark in a way that suggests where one is present, so is the other. Other conflicts of interest continue this theme and the moments of tension heighten the break-outs of dance and music.

Although Curly survives his wedding day - only just - he leaves the stage with his wife on a horseless surrey, bowed under the weight of new responsibilities; perhaps there’s also a pang or two of conscience over provoking Jud too far.

Of particular note in this production are Michael Rouse as Will Parker and Natalie Casey as Ado Annie - the highly changeable girl who ‘can’t say no’. Rouse has even more energy than Xavier with his electrical cartwheels, the high jinks of his Kansas City and the cheeky ‘Oklahoma hello’.

Mention must also be made of the orchestra, led by Catherine Jayes. They are above the stage and this provides another new dimension to the production.

Oklahoma was originally adapted from Green Grow the Lilacs, a play written by Lynn Riggs in 1931. The music is by Richard Rodgers and the original lyrics are by Oscar Hammerstein II.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s other musicals include Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music.

An adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath - CFT deserves applause for inspired scheduling - plays alongside Oklahoma from July 10th. This depicts the darker side of all that was hoped for at the outset of ‘union’ on November 16^th, 1907.

Oklahoma plays at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 29^th August.

Book tickets here