How to rewrite Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical without changing a word? It turns out all you need do is make us really watch, and really listen. In immersing the audience in the action (with some spectators sat at stage-side tables) and highlighting tricky scenes and characters that are often hastily brushed over, directors Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein have created a modern, sexy and unsettling show. And as for the music? The score sounds so revitalised it might’ve been written yesterday.
With the lights on full glare and the modern-dressed ensemble cast sat on stage throughout, there’s the livewire feeling of a read-through, as if the actors are approaching the book and music for the very first time. Nothing is sacred. Everything is up for grabs.
