The classic musical has been refreshed and updated in a new production at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, directed by Timothy Sheader. Carousel is a tricky musical to stage in the present day.
The story and relationships that it presents are not just extremely outdated but actually pretty unpleasant to watch – seeing the toxic masculinity exhibited by the male leads, and the way it’s largely accepted by the female characters feels uncomfortable, especially coming out of a lockdown where we know that levels of domestic violence have been on the rise.
Without wanting to give away spoilers, there are some tweaks to the closing scenes of the show which attempt to address this issue, which are most welcome.