This was a production that used a permanent minimal setting, with small additions to indicate location, though these were often insufficient for the purpose.  Whilst the "Okalhoma!" sequence came across very well, the highlight of the chorus work was in Farmer and the Cowman, with plenty of engery and evident enjoyment.

The dancers performed well in a ballet that loosely portrayed Laurey's nightmare but appeared to omit the return to reality at the end.  There were some good performances from what I understand were several cast members new to principal parts.  Curly (Craig Delaney) and Laurey (Trish Burgess) came across well, as did Carnes (Paul Coleman) and Gertie (Elaine Deathridge).  Aunt Eller (Beverley Moore) was strong, though perhaps a touch too fierce to come across as the benevolent "mother" figure.  Jud (Norman Parish) had a good voice, but could have generated a little more menace.  This production didn't really explore the dark side of the story too deeply, but did make a very good job of the comedy inherent in the book, with Ali Hakim (Brett Moore), Will (James Trundle) and Ado Annie (Sharon Sutton) all giving first class performances and working well together to this end.  An excellent orchestra kept a good balance with the stage and one or two of the youngsters in the cast showed some real promise.

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