Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening is a beautiful and timeless piece of theatre. This version of the musical was cast almost entirely with 17 year olds who to the very last one hold the chilling purity of voice that embodies the sweetness and terror of puberty. Each and every young actor displayed an unspoilt tonal quality in their singing voice that was enchanting. One could sit in the theatre blindfolded and enjoy this show as much as everyone else.

In costume and stage make up all the performers looked at least 5 years older than they actually are, however their acting skills are on par with their age. For the better part, it felt like watching a school play. The acting was at times wooden, and other times inappropriately melodramatic. The choreography did the performers a disservice, at first it appears that the actors don’t know how to dance, but by the third or fourth song it becomes apparent that it is intentional. It needed to go even further into the avant guarde to be effectual; or to go in the other direction and be more emotive and realistic because it currently hangs leaden, between the two styles, lifeless and lacking in meaning.

There were occasional moments of magic between the actors that beautifully mirrored the sensations felt by every teenager when they first become aware of their bodies. This is the kind of show that every teenager should see early on despite the explicit nature of the content and these teenagers should all bring their parents, to remind them of what it was like to discover their own sexuality.

Adele Scott

Photographs: (top) Liam Maguire as Moritz, Aleksa Kurbalija as Melchior, Shannen Chin-Quin as Wendla and (bottom) full cast in Spring Awakening. Photographer: Matt Deller.