Showing @ Traverse Theatre until 13 Nov


 
Douglas Maxwell’s adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s 1891 Spring Awakening, written a year after Oscar Wilde’s A Picture of Dorian Gray and sharing much of the subject matter, pulled no punches in its graphic portrayal of teenage desires and angst. While the subjects of pornography, homosexuality, sadomasochism and teenage sexuality are now talked of in a relatively open manner, it’s no surprise that, for many years, this play was performed at irregular long intervals and in a censored format. 
 
The protagonists live a tortured life; from death, suicide, coming-of-age sexual awakening and exam pressures, so much so that this adaptation, at times, feels  like an episode of Skins rather than a Victorian drama.

Kirsty Stuart as Wendla Bergmann, is believable in her suffering but with a reassuringly light touch for such dark subject matter, worked skilfully with Gavin Wright, as Melchior Gabor. The rape sequence between the two, beautifully lit from the back of the stage, made uncomfortable but compelling viewing. Gail Watson, with a ‘Mrs Robinson’ glint in her eyes, who played Fanny Gabor, Melchior’s mother, with such man-eating conviction that any teenage boy would have been hard pressed to say no.
 
With the set at times just chalk outlines on the floor, Ali MacLaurin deserves full praisefor the stripped back style and the costumes but these sections worked far better than the overly busy and at times messy set changes which interrupted the flow of the play.
 
In the end, this a morality play that ultimately ponders the problems, pressures and pains of being pure at heart and comes up with the ugly truth that the Victorians were no nearer handling those pressures than we are today.