Review: Peak Performance make a splash in South Pacific

Peak Performance fielded a well-drilled team for their production of South Pacific at the Pomegranate last week, even if some of the lively chorus of World War 2 sailors and nurses were a little on the mature side.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Jun 2014, 15:34 BST
South Pacific, presented by Peak PerformanceSouth Pacific, presented by Peak Performance
South Pacific, presented by Peak Performance

The songs were familiar to the last note: Some Enchanted Evening, I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair, Younger Than Springtime, and classic Bali H’ai.

Peak Performance regulars Mike Spriggs and Joan Hopkinson were island plantation owner Emile and navy nurse Nellie. Debi Alvey, in her first role with the company, excelled as Polynesian entrepreneur Bloody Mary, with lots of attitude and a rich contralto voice which could become quite an asset. The show’s dark thread should be the war, but in fact it’s something more universal: racial prejudice, illustrated here by cute Lewis McPhilbin and sweet-voiced Darcy Thorpe as Emile’s Polynesian children who almost come between him and Nellie. David Hopkinson was Ivy League hero Lieutenant Cable, with Lucy Kent as a lissom Liat.

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South Pacific is one of those shows which half the audience knows by heart – but it added to this audience’s enjoyment.

Peak Youth, the company’s offshoot, launches its production of The Wizard of Oz at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield, tonight (June 2) where it runs until Wednesday, June 4, 2014.

LYNNE PATRICK

Related topics:South PacificChesterfield