REVIEW: Spring’s Awakening
Spring’s Awakening
Pilch Theatre, 16 May - 20 May
Rural nineteenth century Germany is perhaps not the most auspicious setting for a play dealing with the sexual and intellectual developments of adolescence, but Jana Burbach’s impressive production of Frank Wedekind’s Spring’s Awakening demonstrates that certain narratives retain their power no matter where they are placed.
Animated by the struggle of generational conflict, the play follows a group of confused teenagers as they try to work out some of the facts of life with tragic consequences. Burbach’s new translation, which deftly manages to remain true to the idiom of the piece (which was originally written in 1891), while never sounding archaic or affected, is powerfully realised by her ensemble cast. Polina Kalinina’s Wendla is both delicate and fiercely determined as the troubled young girl.
Despite Wendla’s somewhat predictable preoccupation with death, Kalinina never allows her characterisation to descend into sentimentality or mawkishness. Her relationship with her mother (Rebecca Gibson) is captivatingly natural, both actresses emphasising their different ages perfectly, while Frank Brinkley plays Wendla’s independent-minded suitor, Melchoir, with a striking mixture of petulance and despair.
The only real problem the cast encounters is a tendency to speak much too quietly, particularly in the scenes with the greatest emotional charge. Spring’s Awakening was originally envisioned as a garden show, and one feels that it might have functioned more effectively out of doors. Despite Burbach’s decision to extend the stage, the action still feels slightly cramped.
Nevertheless, this production is a refreshingly different, if slightly unambitious, piece of student drama, one which puts an unusual spin on a traditional set of problems.
18th May 2006