The King and I
Writers: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein Director: Bartlett Sher London Palladium, Argyll Street, London W1 (020-7087 7757). Until 29 September Running time: 2hrs 55mins (including interval)
It is no exaggeration to describe
The King and I as “one of the most problematic musicals of the 20th century American canon”, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. Set in the kingdom of Siam in 1862, the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit centres on the relationship between Siam’s absolutist monarch and Anna, a “plucky” British governess tasked with “teaching his polygamous brood”. Shocked by what she sees as a lack of civilisation, Anna seeks to impart some good old-fashioned Western wisdom. It’s “East meets West at the height of Victorian imperialism” – with all the attendant stereotypes and caricatures. No wonder the 1956 film version remains banned in Thailand, where it is seen as a “crass monument to orientalism”.
Bartlett Sher’s revival of the show, which has transferred to the West End from Broadway, faces these difficult elements “head on”, said Marianka Swain on The Arts Desk. It presents a culture clash in which the benefits and absurdities of both realms “are readily apparent”. In the Act II number Western People Funny, for example, the joke is on Victorian women for being forced to wear “hooped skirts and agonising heels” – not, as in the past, on Siamese women for failing to understand Western couture. I hate to come across as a “humourless lefty”, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out, but I still found the “hyperorientalist” depiction of Siam “cringeworthy”. It may be faithful to the original conception, but there’s just no way we’d “tolerate this from a contemporary show”.
Even so, this is still a terrific production, said Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail. The score, which includes delights such as Shall We Dance? and I Whistle A Happy Tune – is “played sumptuously by a compact orchestra”. And Kelli O’hara, who won a Tony award for her turn as Anna on Broadway, has “the complete musical-theatre voice”. (Ken Watanabe is less impressive as the king – “half his lyrics are inaudible”.) The show does drag a bit, but overall it’s a highly enjoyable evening of old-time “glamour”.