SOUTH PACIFIC

BY RICHARD RODGERS, OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II & JOSHUA LOGAN

Julianne Boyd, the director of this Barrington Stage Company production, conceived the work as more of a chamber piece than a full-blown musical comedy. This approach admirably served the serious wartime, ethical and racial themes in the book. The cast was small with two-piano accompaniment, and the setting needed to be on an equivalent scale.

A permanent translucent backdrop of the Pacific and sky served every scene. Changes of location and focus were accomplished with six moving panels (a, b) painted impressionistically with suggestions of bamboo and other tropical vegetation and also by changes of lighting that separated the sky and the ocean. Virtually all other scenic elements were carried or rolled on by the cast: Emile’s terrace; the beach with Sgt. Billis’ laundry, shower and other commercial enterprises; Liat’s home on Bali Ha’i; the commander’s office; the radio shack; and the stage for the Thanksgiving show.

Emile’s Terrace with table and chairs was set up on a wagon and featured a lush garden of exotic flowers and plants with a panoramic view of the ocean beyond a balcony rail.

Bali Haâi (a, b) was an abstract, dimly lit space that created an atmosphere of sensuality through its references to performing arts: dance, masks, etc. Liatâs dwelling was a cozy arrangement of delicate hangings and a floor mat with pillows.

The G.I. stage for the Thanksgiving Follies (a, b) was a collage of "found" materials—scraps of fabric, rope, lumber, cardboard, newspaper, etc.—featuring a painted "patriotic" background. When the stage turned around to depict the backstage scenes, there was more ample evidence of the raw materials used on the painted front.