Chichester Festival Theatre will reopen its doors with its summer musical: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, running from 5 July – 4 September. One performance each week will be socially distanced and the production will also be streamed online.
The cast is led by Gina Beck (Nellie Forbush), Julian Ovenden (Emile de Becque) Joanna Ampil (Bloody Mary), Keir Charles (Luther Billis) and Rob Houchen (Joe Cable).
Also in the cast are Iroy Abesamis, Carl Au, Rosanna Bates, David Birrell, Taylor Bradshaw, Bobbie Chambers, Danny Collins, Shailan Gohil, Adrian Grove, Zack Guest, Matthew Maddison, Sera Maehara (as Liat), Melissa Nettleford, Kate Playdon, Pierce Rogan and Clancy Ryan.
1943. On an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, US troops are kicking their heels amid the cacao groves while restlessly waiting for the war to reach them.
Nellie Forbush, a navy nurse from Arkansas, finds herself falling for the French plantation owner, Emile de Becque – a man with a mysterious past. The scheming sailor Luther Billis runs a makeshift laundry to earn a quick buck, but he’s no match for the Polynesian Bloody Mary who’s intent on exploiting these foreigners.
When young Princeton graduate Lieutenant Joe Cable is flown in on a dangerous reconnaissance mission, love and fear become entwined as the island’s battle for hearts and minds begins.
There will be a Dementia Friendly performance on 1 September at 2.30pm, welcoming individuals living with dementia, as well as their friends, families and carers.
