A review of Pelican Productions’ Spring Awakening

I have to admit that upon arriving at Corpus on a dark Saturday night I had no idea what to expect from Spring Awakening. A friend who had already been painted me a picture of something shocking and yet I walked away with a feeling of profound sadness. The play is undoubtedly a comment on society, on the lessons we teach and the ones we don’t, and it was a message which was conveyed strikingly. With no knowledge of the plot, the twists and turns, though at times predictable, were expertly performed, drawing the audience into the emotional rollercoaster. Opening with a haunting song from Am Wyckoff’s Wendla, there was the promise of a good show that did not disappoint.

With a small staging area and broken spotlight, the venue was undoubtedly not the best for putting on a production and certainly not one with a reasonably large cast. However, the creative team were able to use what resources they did have in productive and interesting ways, enabling the audience to forget that they were essentially in a lecture theatre. Particularly notable was the use of flashes of light (not too dissimilar to a lightning effect) at the moments of abuse. This clever technique highlighted the violence of the scene, heightening it in an arguably Artaudian style. In fact, there was the sense of a Theatre of Cruelty theme running through the play, which certainly left this audience member thinking. There was certainly a focus upon the acting, with the lack of set being barely noticeable as the cast filled the limited space with ease and relied on few props, mainly stools. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any set would have inhibited rather than enhanced the performances. Similarly, the costumes were primarily simple, the male characters wearing academic dress for most scenes. These easily sourced outfits suited the setting, contrasting wonderfully with the somewhat horrifying frilly and floral costumes of their female counterparts. These striking choices (think cottagecore gone wrong) perfectly conveyed the theme of maintained childhood that the play set out to tackle and reflected an innocence even when the characters began to stray from the roles set out for them.

No matter how dark the play progressively got, there was always a sense of the actors’ genuine enjoyment at being on stage. This passion was undoubtedly the best part of the show, with every song and carefully choreographed routine being performed with exuberant energy that could not help but fill the audience with the same enthusiasm for the scenes. The choreography in question was incredibly well designed and executed by the team. I saw a lot of shows within the very short space of a week and cannot deny that the physicality of this musical stood out to me amongst the chaos of scenes and curtain calls running through my head. From the striking and effective freezes to the use of an ensemble who were able to personify the themes of the show and the intense feelings of the actors, there were examples of excellent choreography being perfectly executed running through the whole show (as I do not know the musical, I am honestly unsure as to whether this was drawn from the professional production). I am, however, aware that the use of handheld mics for the ensemble was a decision lifted directly from the original performance. Despite this sense of authenticity, the effect was not as well realised as it could have been. The two mics were passed between those with individual lines in a well rehearsed way, yet there were still points in which lines could not be heard. This may also have been due to the necessity to compete with the onstage band. It is always a challenge tackling the positioning of musicians and the integration of the piano and stool into certain scenes worked well, yet they were undoubtedly a little too loud even with the support of the backstage ensemble. While on the topic of sounds, the use of stamping as knocking in certain scenes had the unpolished feel of the rehearsal room about them, which was a pity.

A scene, by contrast, which had clearly been thought through and polished was that of Melchior’s abuse of Wendla. This particular interaction was admittedly a little confusing to begin with, given the positioning of the characters as having an intense conversation to the audience rather than each other. However, once the context of the scene became clear, it was certainly a very clever piece of direction. The performances from both Sam Harper and Am Wycoff were incredibly strong not just in this scene but throughout, taking on characters with troubled emotional arcs and embodying them to perfection. The casting choices for such challenging characters could not have been better, establishing positions for both within the university’s acting community as powerful performers. Likewise, the psychological exploration of the other characters within the community from Isabella Diaz Pascual’s Moritz to Lily Massay’s parental figures well conveyed with skill and believability. Despite the negative commentary I have heard surrounding the production, there is no denying that these actors all rose to the challenge of the play and performed with adept professionalism.

Ultimately, this was a performance which enabled a group of talented actors to convey their emotional range as they tackled challenging on stage situations and rose expertly to every challenge. While the setting was not ideal and not every song could be heard, that did not inhibit an excellent array of performances in this psychological exploration of childhood.

Photograph courtesy of Ugur Ozcan