Oklahoma had been seen as almost a sacred script in musical theatre. The show stands as the parent to modern musical theatre and always gives theatre companies the chance to get their cowboy costumes out and enjoy a good ole hoe down. For me, Oklahoma has been the show of my nightmares after having spent the first 6 months of drama school having to sing (and listen to other people sing) Oh What A Beautiful Morning in audition class.
However, Director Daniel Fish took Oklahoma and sanded down the layers of lacquer and artifice that others have painted over the show. He revealed a dirty, truthful and sexy show about young people living in the middle of nowhere. They are coming to terms with themselves as adults as their land is coming to terms with itself as a country. New deeper meanings were revealed under the paint without changing a single word or song.
Oklahoma had never been a show that I enjoyed but this production was a creative masterclass in how to dig down and find meaning in a theatre piece.
This episode is from my Theatre Review Podcast series.
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BONUS EPISODE- OKLAHOMA LONDON REVIEW