Spring Awakening: Live at the Hammersmith Lyric
Words by Dan Jude
Rape! Beatings! Back-street abortion! With more taboo buzzwords than a midnight episode of Hollyoaks in the City, it’s no wonder the median age of the full-to-the-brim audience at the Lyric Theatre is about 17. Taking a seat at Spring Awakening is much like going to see a Shakespeare Play at the Globe the week before English Lit GCSE exams.
Before casting too much scorn on the performance, we should take a moment to consider that 14 of the 17 members of the cast are making their professional theatre debuts. Surprisingly, then, the acting is actually the best thing about Spring Awakening, with several fine performances; none more so than that of debutante Charlotte Wakefield who, as Wendla, shines through as a bright star in an otherwise fairly dim production.
So if the problem is not the cast, what is it then? It’s not really the direction, which Michael Mayer handles perfectly adequately, if a little predictably. No, it is the plot and the score that are weak, and for a musical that is about to transfer to the West End, this is not a good start.
First, let’s look at the former: the plot. Based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play, you’d assume that, if anything, the adaptation would be racier and break more boundaries in 2009, right? Wrong. Firstly, the crucial rape scene between Melchior and Wendla from Wedekind’s play has been woefully mutated into a missionary shmaltz-fest; the sort of PG rated sexual encounter Dawson most likely partook in down at his creek. Yes, he whips her with a cane just before. And they both enjoy it. Big wow. This is a play whose publicity has been built on its supposed temerity and sexual daring – so why the need to censor and sanitise throughout?
Secondly, although there is a beginning, middle and an end, as such, you never feel particularly involved with the characters. So we don’t really care when Wendla dies following a botched backstreet abortion, nor are we particularly phased when Moritz, played by Iwan Rheon (a poor man’s Matt from Busted) tops himself after flunking his exams. Compare this to the genuine empathy felt when learning of similar news in far better coming-of-age musical The History Boys, and you’ll realise that it is no fault of the cast – just a weak script, not even brought to life by the bloodlust and sexual radicalism promised by the splatterings of blood and tagline ‘But now are bodies are the guilty ones’ prominently on show in the programme. Instead, it’s all very, well, tame.
There are enjoyable moments, and not all of the songs are totally awful, although first act closer ‘I Believe’ is about as painful as go-karting on a gravel track with haemorrhoids. Once you get through the interval, things liven up a little bit, but you never really care, nor do you ever feel that you’re witnessing something truly groundbreaking or innovative. Yes, there’s wanking, beating, sexual discovery and the rest, but it’s all stuff that’s been tackled elsewhere, and much better. If you really want to see teenagers journey into their ‘Spring Awakening’, you’d probably be better off watching Skins. It’s much less wholesome, takes more risks, and the music’s better too.
Spring Awakening is at the Hammersmith Lyric (http://www.lyric.co.uk/) until 14th March before transferring to the Novello Theatre (http://www.novellotheatre.com/) on 21st March
Posted Tue, March 10, 2009