Spring Awakening - Fresh Bred Productions (10 April 2015)

Hot on the heels of the performance of Frank Wedekind’s 19^th century play at Curtin University last month comes the Tony Award winning musical adaptation, presented by Fresh Bred Productions. Fresh Bred hit the scene in February last year with the Patrick Marber play Closer which was followed by their first musical, The Last Five Years, in August. They appear to have found a home at UWA’s Dolphin Theatre and a niche in mounting ambitious musical theatre productions with Sweeney Todd up next. Even Closer betrayed their intentions with an original score composed by regular musical collaborator Kohan Van Sambeeck.

Having seen the source material only a month ago certainly helped my understanding of the story but what struck me most was this: how audacious it was to take a play written in 1891 and turn it into a rock musical. It is testament to the thematic potency of the original even though some of the darkest aspects have been toned down for the different format. There’s still plenty of honest and uncomfortable examination of teenage sexual awakening in its various forms married to a superb set of songs.

Here lies the strength of this production. The orchestra, led by Musical Director Joshua James Webb, was terrific throughout. The music by Duncan Sheik is an impressive yet eclectic mix of strings and more rock oriented elements – electric guitars and drums - with Webb on keyboards. This collection of musicians certainly knew how to rock when required – The Bitch of Living and Totally Fucked for example – but was perhaps even sharper when providing the mood and atmosphere to numbers like Whispering and Touch Me. Situated at the back of stage behind the gauze stripped ‘trees’ representing the German woods, they were tight and focussed with the only blemish a false start at the beginning of the second act but that appeared to be related to a backstage issue. Well played Van Sambeeck (percussion), Hanna Lee-Smith (Violin/Guitar), Cristina Filgueira (Viola), Beren Scott (Cello/Violin), Tim Perren (Electric Bass), Ben Griffith (Guitar) and Webb (Piano/Conductor).

Matching the musicians was the vocal talent on display. This really was a strong cast from a singing perspective – the featured vocalists excelled and were given tremendous support from the ensemble. I had not come across Madeline Crofts (Wendla) before but she set the tone from the beginning with Mama Who Bore Me and sang beautifully throughout with Whispering a highlight. Finn Alexander (Melchior) unfortunately had a dead microphone for the opening sequences which cruelled All That’s Known but once that technical problem was rectified he too showcased a fine voice, notably in songs like Touch Me. Both impressed with their acting skills especially in two pivotal scenes – the beating of Wendla with the switch and the now more ambiguous sexual congress that ends the first act. 

Cal Silberstein played Moritz with an exuberance that marked the character’s incarnation here as most recognisably a musical theatre construct as distinct from the more sombre version in the original play. He did it well in the first act driving a lot of the comedic energy but this gave way to darker hues at the end of the first (And Then There Were None) and into the second that provided a nice arc. Kimberley Harris, another fine singer, was an almost ever present observer as Ilse with a featured scene with Silberstein in Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind. The musical started with the teenagers seemingly listening to Ilse intently and that configuration was reprised at the end as if she was relating the tale just witnessed. Indeed the whole company was almost always in sight with the ensemble in the wings and actively watching when not in a scene. The Ilse character also appeared to take on aspects of the Masked Man who has been otherwise excised from the adaptation.

Naomi Denny (Martha) had a notable moment with The Dark I Know Well and the effective welt makeup on her shoulder elicited an appropriate audience response when revealed before that song. Sven Ironside made for a charismatic, mischievous Hanschen and his work with Andrew Longo (Ernst), particularly during The Word of Your Body (Reprise) was playful but hauntingly beautiful as well. I really enjoyed the acting work of Michael MacCuish who added real authority and presence in the ‘Adult Men’ roles, and Nat Burbage played a mix of stern adult female authority figures and the more emotional mother roles.

The set harked back to the setting of the source material with the woods and classroom represented in minimalist style before we switch to the Reformatory and graveyard in the second act. There was an interesting use of glow sticks during the raucous Totally Fucked which gave a real sense of energy but jarred a little stylistically. The cast was buoyant during The Song of Purple Summer and final bows. Having been in rehearsals since November the hard work and preparation was evident in particularly the musical and vocal quality on display.  

Adapted from the Frank Wedekind play with Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater and Music by Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening is directed by Craig Griffen with Musical Direction by Joshua James Webb. It stars Finn Alexander, Cal Silberstein, Madeline Crofts, Nat Burbage, Michael MacCuish, Pete Martis, Daniel Kirkby, Sven Ironside, Andrew Longo, Shanice Palfrey, Olivia Everett, Naomi Denny and Kimberley Harris. There are two more shows at UWA’s Dolphin Theatre, 17-18 April.

Spring Awakening - Hayman Theatre Company (3 March 2015)

I remarked to one of the actors that I needed to “think about the play” as we were talking after the show. She replied along the lines of, “you always say that about the shows I’m in.” That may indeed be true but is testament to the sort of interesting material I've seen performed by Curtin University's Hayman Theatre Company in the last year or so.  

I found Spring Awakening, a play I was not familiar with (and distinct from the much later musical adaptation), to be quite challenging. Its language is as dense as its thematic complexity and I had not expected the two and a half hour running time (plus intermission). It demanded a lot of its audience and certainly did of its actors. For a student production it is an audacious choice and there is much to admire about the result. However, some actors fared better than others with the incredibly difficult dialogue that at times was alliteration happy and a little florid to my modern ears. It also felt overwritten and could have used some judicious editing but perhaps that is more to do with present day attention spans more than a century on from its original conception. Having said all that, a great deal of thought and skill has gone into its staging.

The story itself, in essence, centres around two 14 year olds – Wendla (Beth Tremlett) and Moritz (Alexander Gerrans) - who are totally unprepared for their sexual awakening; and the impact a more self-aware Melchior (Sean Guastavino) has on both of their lives resulting in his own demise. Rape, abortion, suicide, depression, and the recriminations and judgment of the “powers-that-be”, whether parents, teachers, or the church, marked this as controversial in its day. It still packs a wallop even now and there is an undercurrent of very black humour throughout.

I must admit it began to coalesce into something far more cohesive for me in the second half when the ramifications of the ‘sins’ in the first two acts are ‘judged’. In many ways, as I remarked to the director afterwards, A Clockwork Orange reminded me of it in that regard. That Melchior is ‘put on trial’, rightly for his treatment of Wendla and unfairly for ‘educating’ Moritz, and his defiance in the face of withering condemnation is compelling. The play takes a surreal turn at the end when he is confronted by two figures in a graveyard having escaped the reformatory he was banished to by his parents. The identity of one of these is not in doubt; the other defiantly mysterious. It is left to the audience to decide what Melchior’s fate will ultimately be.    

This is perhaps the best looking production I have seen at the Hayman Theatre Upstairs. It is beautifully lit with a clear distinction in lighting choices between the two halves as the realism of the first two acts gives way to the symbolism of the third. The stage is well presented with a ramp that the actors could clamber on, under, and through; a divan; and multitudes of paper strips depicting the winter forest very effectively. Actors also perched themselves along the side walls of the theatre to great effect. There was the appropriate use of ominous or evocative music as the scene demanded.

The costuming was excellent and I particularly liked the work of the ensemble to re-enact key events in the back stories of the principals or add texture and context. They were mostly clad in old fashioned white cotton attire that was evocative and a representation of ‘purity’.

To the performances and Tremlett inhabits Wendla with great spirit but her character is undone by a dangerous naivety fostered by her Mother (Kayla MacGillivray). The importance of knowledge, especially in regard to sexuality is a major thematic component. That Wendla is denied this knowledge makes her vulnerable and Tremlett plays this confusion well. That the ultimate arc is one of tragedy, the transformation from high-spirited innocent to being physically and emotionally crippled is well rendered. Guastavino plays Melchior with a calm resoluteness and sweet smile that belies the terrible acts his character commits especially against Wendla, the worst of which is harrowing and drew an audible exclamation from an audience member behind me. Gerrans battled gainfully with some truly difficult blocks of dialogue but admirably retained his composure though he was the least confident of the three with the language. His reappearance in the third act, however, was well done as it echoed the story Moritz had told (and discounted) earlier.

The support was very good with Jeremy Bunny impressive as Hansy; Gemma Middleton revelling in a long monologue as Ilse; Amelia Tuttleby particularly forceful as Melchior’s mother; and Savannah Wood playing varying roles as she brought what otherwise would have been straight verbal descriptions to vivid, at times, wailing life. Nathan Whitebrook gives a charismatic cameo at the end.

The acts of violence are well-handled and, as mentioned, director Teresa Izzard utilises the ensemble to give this real movement and energy as well as allowing all the actors to maximise the potential of the performance space. It is at times a difficult watch but a rewarding one as it prompts discussion and further thought which is always to be embraced. 

Spring Awakening is directed by Teresa Izzard with a translation of the original German script (Frank Wedekind) by Jonathan Franzen, and stars Jeremy Bunny, Jarryd Dobson, Alexander Gerrans, Sean Guastavino, Kayla MacGillivray, Gemma Middleton, Aaron Smith, Terence Smith, Beth Tremlett, Amelia Tuttleby, Nathan Whitebrook and Savannah Wood. The show is at the Hayman Theatre Upstairs and runs until Saturday 7 March.