NOVELLO THEATRE

Our rating: 5 stars!

Spring Awakening is a vibrant and poignant story about a brilliant young student, Melchior, his troubled friend Moritz, and Wendla, a beautiful teenage girl - all on a voyage of personal discovery and sexual awakening. Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's alt-rock musical jumps from Broadway to London’s Novello Theatre after a successful run at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith.

Based on Franz Wedekind's late nineteenth century play of the same name, Spring Awakening boldly depicts how a dozen young people make their way through the thrilling, complicated, confusing and mysterious time of their sexual awakening.

Wedekind’s play was banned in Germany, and it’s not hard to imagine why — it deals with issues of sexuality, abuse, abortion and suicide with a frankness that retains the ability to shock even a 21st century audience. The musical tones down the rape scene of the original, and manages through its punchy rock numbers to keep the mood up-tempo — quite a feat when you consider two of the characters end up dead and the others emerge scarred for life. But then again, isn’t that what teenage life is like?

The period costumes contrast beautifully with a set designed by Christine Jones that wouldn’t be out of place in a trendy Shoreditch club. It’s a very strong visual metaphor for the contrast between the conservative morals and values of the parentocracy determined to keep the kids in the dark and under control, and the wild, sometimes violent teenage passions that drive the central characters to acts of rebellion and desperation.

A string of musical numbers in the style of indie songs with a razor-sharp edge, crisply choreographed by Bill T. Jones, completely transport anyone who’s already lived through their adolescence straight back to the days when everyday emotions are raw and intense — and will no doubt resonate deeply with the teenagers in the audience. Musical accompaniment comes in the form of a seven-strong rock band complemented by a classical strings section and back-up vocalists who sit among audience members on the sidelines.

Michael Mayer directs a cast of incredibly talented (and very hot) young actors; with themes pinned to the innocence of youth giving way to harsher realities of adult life, it’s a wonderfully fitting touch that the majority of the cast made their stage debut with Spring Awakening.

The genius of songs like 'The Bitch of Living', 'Totally Fxxxxx' combined with Kevin Adams’ breathtakingly inventive lighting design — bare light bulbs hanging at different levels create an immense sense of depth which continues out into the auditorium via almost sickly bright neon strips — make this show fully deserving of the critical praise it’s received.