Theatre is so wonderfully versatile, and it’s brilliant to see so many different types of productions and performers gracing the stages across the country. These range from professional companies to amateur dramatic and operatic societies who indulge in the art for more of a hobby. It’s always interesting to compare the two types of theatre, and this comparison looks like it splits opinion a fair bit. York Light is an amateur operatic society, and I got the chance to see what they were up to with their revival of their classic production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific.

The musical is set on two South Pacific islands during World War Two, and focuses on two different plot lines: the love between US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Rachael Wilkinson) and French plantation owner Emile de Becque (Richard Blackburn) and the more clandestine love between Lieutenant Joseph Cable (Christian Mortimer & Scott Goncalves) and Tonkinese woman, Liat (). In between, we meet a variety of characters that the islands are playing host to, including US Navy Marines and nurses, who break up the action and give the world of the play some substance.

After reading comments on York Light’s previous shows, I was very excited to see what they had in store in this production. However, after watching this show, it seems as if it’s a bit of an anomaly alongside all of their other work. During Act One, I began to notice several faults, starting with the fact that many of the characters in the show seemed a bit underdeveloped. The actors literally seemed to be injecting only a portion of what they potentially could into the script, and this gave me the feeling that there was something missing from the performance. There seemed to be a lack of energy and teamwork during big ensemble numbers, which damaged the dynamism of the company as a whole.

This theme continued to permeate throughout the rest of the show, with accents that constantly slipped and clunky transitions between musical numbers and location changes. I got the sense that everything seemed a little bit under-rehearsed, and many of the actors on stage looked as though they didn’t want to be there in the first place. Glancing eyes at dance steps, along with actors glancing at wobbly set pieces, distracted me from the narrative of the piece; Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are quite tricky in the first place, and it’s up to the company to really convey to the audience the narrative structure and emotions of the characters.

The set itself was nice and simple, and gave the company a nice amount of space to play around with, helping us focus on the characters and the narrative. The company also performed the majority of the songs very well, bringing to life the famous spirit of the musical through them.

In spite of this, I’m sad to say that this production of South Pacific really did disappoint me. I understand that amateur productions and professional productions are two very different things, but in recent years there have been a few amateur companies who have put professionals to shame. While the songs were performed well in this production, I feel that there is still a little bit left to work on in terms of the production’s other aspects.

South Pacific is at York Theatre Royal until 14 March. For more information and tickets, see the York Theatre Royal website.