Phi Phi Islands

The Phi Phi Islands (Thai: หมู่เกาะพีพี, Thai pronunciation: [pʰīː pʰīː]) are in Thailand, between the large island of Phuket and the west Strait of Malacca coast of the mainland. The islands are administratively part of Krabi province. Ko Phi Phi Don ("ko" (Thai: เกาะ) meaning "island" in the Thai language) is the largest island of the group, and is the most populated island of the group, although the beaches of the second largest island, Ko Phi Phi Lee (or "Ko Phi Phi Leh"), are visited by many people as well. The rest of the islands in the group, including Bida Nok, Bida Noi, and Bamboo Island (Ko Mai Phai), are not much more than large limestone rocks jutting out of the sea. The Islands are reachable by speedboats or Long-tail boats most often from Krabi Town or from various piers in Phuket Province.

Phi Phi Don was initially populated by Muslim fishermen during the late-1940s, and later became a coconut plantation. The Thai population of Phi Phi Don remains more than 80% Muslim. The actual population however, if counting laborers, especially from the north-east, is much more Buddhist these days. The population is between 2,000 to 3,000 people (2013).

Phi-Phi

Phi-Phi is an opérette légère in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar. The piece was one which founded the new style of French comédie musicale, the first to really use the latest rhythms of jazz (one-step, fox trot) along with a plot which emphasised comedy – with risqué dialogue of puns and anachronisms – more than the romantic style, which had predominated before. The success of the piece prompted imitators in Paris such as Le petit Phi-Phi (3 March 1922) and Les amants de Phi-Phi (13 March 1923). It also led to a spate of similarly titled stage works: Clo-Clo, Dédé, You-You, Pan Pan... A 1922 London production, in English, was very successful.

Performance history

Phi-Phi opened on 12 November 1918, directly after the end of the First World War, at the Bouffes-Parisiens. After about three months it became a major hit, running for three years. A Paris revival was very successful in 1979-80.

An English-language production premiered at the London Pavilion on 16 August 1922. It starred Stanley Lupino, Evelyn Laye, Arthur Roberts and Clifton Webb. The translation was by Fred Thompson and Clifford Grey, and the score included additional songs by Herman Darewski, Nat Ayer and Cole Porter. This became a hit, playing for over 1,000 performances in London.