About the work
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's musical „The King and I" was premiered on Broadway in 1951 with book by Hammerstein. The work is based on Margaret Landon's novel „Anna and the King of Siam" (1944), which in turn drew on the memoirs of the real Anna Leonowens, who was governess at the court of King Mongkut of Siam in 1862-67.
Plot
Bangkok, 1862. The young English widow Anna Leonowens arrives with her son Louis at the court of King Mongkut of Siam, who has hired her as a teacher to his children. Anna is at first shocked by the absolute, despotic rule of the king. The relationship between Anna and the king becomes a complicated power-and-respect duel: he wants to learn about Western civilisation, she has to push for her bargained-for own house and her dignity. Anna becomes attached to the children, especially the heir Prince Chulalongkorn. A side strand: the slave Tuptim, given to the king as a gift, loves the messenger Lun Tha and tries to flee with him. They are caught; Lun Tha is killed, Tuptim taken away. The king, exhausted from the cultural-political tensions and from his guilt over Tuptim, falls ill. Before his death he names Chulalongkorn his successor and instructs him to abolish the prostration ritual. Anna stays at court to advise Chulalongkorn.
Cultural significance
The King and I is one of the most successful Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. „Shall We Dance?", „Getting to Know You", „Whistle a Happy Tune" and „Hello, Young Lovers" are standards. The 1956 film with Yul Brynner (who played the king on stage and screen for decades) and Deborah Kerr won five Oscars. Productions by Christopher Renshaw (Broadway 1996 with Lou Diamond Phillips) and Bartlett Sher (Broadway 2015 with Ken Watanabe and Kelli O'Hara) have continued the work's life. Critical perspectives on the colonial subtext have intensified since the 1990s.