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About the show
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South Pacific is set in French Polynesia in World War II on an island taken over by the US forces as they advance against the Japanese although at this stage there is no military action or immediate threat to the area - the forces are able to enjoy the balmy tropical island and a comparatively easy life. The forces comprise female nurses (ensigns), sailors, seabees, and soldiers. The gentle islanders are typically French Polynesian except for the tough and immoral Bloody Mary and there are a number of nuns and French planters' daughters. Set against this idylic background Nellie, a nurse, falls in love with Emile de Becque an older French plantation owner with what appears to be a shady past. Young Lt Joseph Cable falls in love with Liat, a young island girl. Both relationships are doomed to fail. Nellie can't accept Emile's past and Joseph has a girl back home - the major challenge faced by them all is summed up bitterly by Cable in the song:
"You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You have to be carefully taught ..."
The Japanese forces move in and both Emile and Cable make the tough decision to risk their lives to provide intelligence on Japanese troop movements.
The story may be set in World War II but have we really changed that much? Or - le plus ca change - are the social mores are as real and valid today as they were in the 1940s?
Fabulous songs, funny, fast and colourful with exciting choreography and Queanbeyan Players' first show in the new Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre - South Pacific has something for everyone.
South Pacific features some of the best known and best loved songs of any musical including: Some Enchanted Evening, A Cockeyed Optimist, Bali Ha'i, I'm Going to Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair, There is Nothing Like a Dame and Honey Bun.
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