Review: Teenage Thirst for Knowledge About Sex, Love And Relationships Plays Out In SPRING AWAKENING

Wednesday 4th May 2016, ATYP Theatre, Walsh Bay

Mitchell Butel's (Director) interpretation of Steven Sater (Book and Lyrics) and Duncan Sheik's (Music) musical adaptation of SPRING AWAKENING proves that the issues of sexuality, relationships and the need for knowledge that challenged teenagers in the 19th Century are still as relevant in the 21st Century. Based on of Frank Wedekind's controversial play written in 1891, SPRING AWAKENING shows that regardless of how liberated and enlightened we'd like to think we are in the 21st Century, the issues that Wedekind's youth faced aren't that dissimilar to those being dealt with today.

Butel has created a powerful but sensitive work that expresses the frustration, anger and confusion that the school children face as they navigate adolescence and early adulthood and the feelings and changes that come with their growth. Working with the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) cast that ranges in age from 17 to 24, with two additional adults to fill the minor roles, Butel has tapped into the personal experiences of his cast and creatives to present a performance that comes from a place of understanding, as evidenced by the passion and precision of the delivery of Sater's text. As Jessica Rookward sings the pleading Mama Who Bore Me it is clear that the importance of every word is understood and, regardless of Rookward's own mother's parenting style, she comprehends Wendla's confusion and feeling that she is inadequately prepared for the future. Similarly, James Raggatt captures Melchior's frustration and anger at the establishment that won't allow people to learn and question in the pointed All That's Known.

Designer Simon Greer has kept the intimate space of ATYP's theatre simple with a red tiled thrust stage space and minimal props, allowing the audience's imagination to imagine the school room, homes and hills. Whilst Butel opens the work with a connection to modern technology, he quickly takes it back to the early 20th Century with Greer's costume design that sees the boys in uniform jackets and shorts and girls in conservative dresses, blouses and skirts. The key indicator of the era, aside from the text, comes through the costuming of the Adult roles such as Fanny Gabor and Frau Bergmann's high collared, bustled Edwardian style dresses. Greer has kept the band, led by Lucy Bermingham (Music Director and Keys), visible, behind the performance space.

Raggartt as the intelligent, questioning Melchior, gives a full, considered performance conveying that he understands that he needs to know more, and not accept what his teachers, parents, and preachers are telling him at face value. He gives Melchior a sensitivity and care as he wants to help Moritz, thinking that knowledge is power, and a love for Wendla, not fully realizing that she didn't know the ramifications of their love. He also expresses that balance Melchior is learning between his gentle side and a more aggressive side that he either wasn't aware of or has suppressed. As Wendla, Jessica Rookeward expresses the young girls innocence and frustration when she thinks that her mother isnt telling her the whole truth. She feels the pressures of what is 'wrong' and 'right' yet doesn't understand why she feels the things she does.

Josh McElroy captures the confused, uninformed Moritz that is feeling the pressures of school whilst his body is betraying him and driving him to distraction. McElroy presents Moritz in a way that it seems impossible not to feel pity for the distracted boy that, through his innocence and ignorance, imposed by the adults and society, sees him suffer at the hands of a parent that cares more for what the neighbors will think than the welfare of his own child. Kate Cheel, as Wendla's friend Martha, who is being abused, is another stand out performance in the sensitivity and truthfulness in the expression of Martha's fear, pain and shame and the fear and pain in The Dark I know Well, presented with Alex Malone (Ilse), is palpable. Patrick Diggins is delicious as the confident Hänschen as he seduces the wide eyed, innocent Ernst (Joe Howe), smugly keeping under the radar in comparison to his schoolmates. All the youth roles are solid, it is however the Adults that deliver weaker performances with unusual accents and stilted performances. Whilst Butel has opted to present the work in a natural voice, avoiding, for the most part, any Germanic tones, Thomasin Litchfield presents a number of the female Adult roles with a broad, somewhat "bogan" Australian, dropping consonants which lessens the impact of the text and presents as a jarring sound against the rest of the cast. .

Butel has chosen to present the songs within the context of the work, in comparison to other stagings which make the separation of story and song more defined. Keeping the music within the story serves to better show the songs as personal reflections and expression of feelings. For group numbers, there is universal support but also an isolation as each teen feels similar feelings but is isolated in their ability to share their problems with each other due to the social taboos. There are some issues with sound balance with the band overpowering the lyrics in the small space. The full rock sound is felt but given this is a musical and not a rock concert, the text needs to be heard, particularly when the boys are using their weaker lower registers.

This production of SPRING AWAKENING is a wonderful, entertaining and enlightening expression of the issues that faced teens, and are still facing teens and a great reminder that we need to be keeping the dialogue and education lines open to answer questions and give young people the answers without feeing ashamed for asking. It also showcases the young talent that ATYP is nurturing and we can expect to grace larger Australian stages in the future.

SPRING AWAKENING

ATYP Theatre, Walsh Bay

27th April - 14th May 2016

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