Theatre in review: South Pacific, Anna X and ‘country-comedy’ opera L’amico Fritz
Just to see ‘a large cast dancing and singing its lungs out feels like witnessing an act of rebirth’

“My, how I’ve missed the gladdening sight and pulse-quickening sound of a major American musical done to perfection,” said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph.
Daniel Evans’s “enchanting” and “seductive” staging of South Pacific at Chichester Festival Theatre is a flat-out triumph. Leads Julian Ovenden and Gina Beck are both first-rate. The racial aspects of the plot are handled very sensitively, and without sacrificing wit and buoyancy. And just to see “a large cast dancing and singing its lungs out feels like witnessing an act of rebirth”.
I’ve never before been seduced by South Pacific, with its “sumptuous score” and “ghastly action”, said Susannah Clapp in The Observer. But this “glorious” version made me think, for the first time, that Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “really may, as has always been claimed, not be besmirched by racism and misogyny but be tackling them”. Truly an enchanted evening (until 5 September).
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Anna X, at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End, is “frenetic, fun and ultra-cool” – and dazzling in its “ambition, originality and execution”, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian.
Joseph Charlton’s “slick and intelligent” two-hander, about a con artist who rips off a tech entrepreneur, is loosely based on the story of the “fake heiress” Anna Sorokin. Emma Corrin (“excellent” as Princess Diana in The Crown) and Nabhaan Rizwan are both “superb”: she emanating “steely cynicism”; he “loveably gullible” – but it’s the set and video designs that blow the mind.
Anna X deploys “such sophisticated – and stupendous – video projection techniques that it feels like a reconceived theatrical form” – a mash-up of film, pop video and “happening”. Let’s hope that Charlton (a successful TV writer) continues to write for the theatre, said Paul Taylor in The Independent. He’s a major talent (until 4 August).
Pietro Mascagni’s charming “country-comedy” opera L’amico Fritz is a “musical flummery” as “toothsome” as its cherry-orchard setting – all “sharp-sweet dissonance, heavy with some really sumptuous duets and a stirring intermezzo”, said Alexandra Coghlan in The Daily Telegraph. Verdi called it “the worst libretto I’ve ever seen”, but “since when has a lack of real conflict been a barrier to success for a romantic comedy?”
The piece is a favourite at Opera Holland Park, where Julia Burbach’s new production boasts a cracking cast, and a reduced City of London Sinfonia sensitively captures the work’s tender string writing and folk-infused melodies. “It’s froth, but deliciously served” – and “delivered with a final sprinkle of pink confetti, this is opera without tears, and none the worse for it” (until 31 July).
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Not just a number: how aging rates vary by country
The explainer Inequality is a key factor
-
'There will be a market incentive to build wind and solar anyway'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Geoff Dyer's 6 favorite books about the realities of war
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Ernie Pyle, Michael Herr, and more
-
Geoff Dyer's 6 favorite books about the realities of war
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Ernie Pyle, Michael Herr, and more
-
Book review: 'A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck'
Feature A couple works to keep their marriage together while lost at sea
-
Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) recipe
The Week Recommends German dish is fresh, creamy and an ideal summer meal
-
6 peaceful homes near small towns
Feature Featuring doors with local topographical maps in Oregon and a 1850s homestead-turned-house in Vermont
-
Too Much: London-set romantic comedy from Lena Dunham
The Week Recommends Megan Stalter stars as a 'neurotic' New Yorker who falls in love with a Brit
-
Apocalypse in the Tropics: a 'troubling' portrait of modern Brazil
The Week Recommends Petra Costa's sobering documentary examines the rise of right-wing evangelical Christianity in Brazilian politics
-
Murderland: a 'hauntingly compulsive' book
The Week Recommends Caroline Fraser sets out a 'compelling theory' that toxins were to blame for the 1970s serial killer epidemic
-
The 2025 James Beard Award winners
Feature Featuring a casually elegant restaurant, recipes nearly lost to war, and more