Review: SPRING AWAKENING at Seacoast Repertory Theatre

“Spring Awakening” is a stage musical that explodes onto the stage of the Seacoast Repertory Theatre, offering a raw and powerful exploration of teenage angst.

“Spring Awakening” is originally based on the German play “Frühlings Erwachen,” also known as “Spring’s Awakening” or “The Awakening of Spring,” written by Frank Wedekind. It’s considered a pivotal work in the history of modern theatre. The play was written between 1890 and 1891, but it wasn’t performed until 1906, at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, Germany having faced censorship and public bans due to its controversial subject matter.

In the stage musical, Duncan Sheik's haunting rock score and Steven Sater's emotionally charged lyrics propel us into the lives of these repressed teens in a 19th century German society as they navigate the tumultuous transition from childhood to adulthood and experience the complexities of their sexual awakenings.

The musical doesn't shy away from difficult topics like sexual abuse, suicide, and abortion and there are scenes with simulated masturbation and partial nudity. Directors Ben Hart and Brandon James skillfully navigate these with appropriate passion and expression, but always done artistically tasteful.

At the heart of the story lies Melchior Gabor (Spencer “Skip” Stewart), a rebellious and intelligent young man who grapples with his burgeoning sexuality and clashes with the rigid expectations of his parents and teachers. Wendla Bergman (Sophie Mings) Melchior's love interest, embodies the innocence and confusion of a young woman yearning for connection and knowledge. She asks her mother about where babies come from and is given an elusive answer leaving her with more questions than answers about sexuality. She eventually loses her virginity to Melchior that results in an unwanted pregnancy.

Melchior's best friend, Moritz Stiefel  (Jason Faria) is a sensitive and overwhelmed student, struggling under the immense pressure to excel academically along with how to handle his raging teenage hormones. 

Wendla’s best friend, Martha (Michelle Faria), is a character brimming with life and defiance. She shares a secret of sexual abuse by a family member with Wendla and finds solace and protection--in what today would be called-- their “BFF” relationship.

Of course, teen angst and authoritarian repression couldn’t be presented on stage without appropriately befuddled adults. Alexandar Mullaney plays the female authority figures while Ben Hart plays the male counterparts.

The two portray a barrage of parents, school administrators, clergy, and physicians who collectively confuse the teens are they seek answers to their jumbled emotions, questions and beliefs.

Stewart and Mings are wonderfully matched as the star-crossed lovers. (A bit of “Romeo and Juliet,” perhaps.) Their voices are strong and pure and their performances very convincing.

Mings effectively portrays a struggling adolescent facing the expectations of womanhood.  Stewart perfectly captures Melchior's intellectual curiosity and deep frustration with societal constraints.

Faria as Moritz Stiefel is engaging as the struggling and hardworking student. His death by suicide is a harsh reflection of the struggles experienced even today by modern day teens.

Michelle Faria (talent sure runs in the Faria family), is a standout in this show as well reflecting a  youthful spunk layered with the fragility of abuse at a young age.

Youthful energy in the choreography and vocals is electric with the ensemble cast of Alyssa Dumas, Quinn McGillion, Jared Lemay, Max Cavanaugh, Christopher Hobson, Kyla Bolling and Emily Lambert.   

The performing space at the Seacoast Rep stage makes this production ever more intimate and intense. This is enhanced with the orchestra performing in full view on stage with the likes of a keyboard, drums, violins and nearly a dozen types of guitars. With music direction by Andrew Strout, the live orchestra’s offerings range from hauntingly powerful pieces as “Mama Who Bore Me” and “The Word of Your Body” to full rock opera renditions of rollickingly songs like “My Junk,” the knockout number, “Totally F***ed,” and the gospel style rendering of “I Believe.”

A beautiful number ends the show with a reflective, “The Song of Purple Summer.”  Here, there’s a liberating moment when the cast literally sheds their uniforms as they enter a much brighter future. (Yes, here’s the partial nudity. Nothing worse than what you see on cable television and much less than revealed in the recent SRT production of “Hair.”)

The choreography by the creative team of Jason Faria and Alyssa Dumas is dynamic and evocative, well mirroring the characters' struggles and moments of joy.

Costume designer, Brandon James, masterfully evokes a Neo-Nazi feel to the costumes reflective of a time when German youth were required to wear military-style uniforms. The women look truly innocent while the men could pass as punk rockers.

There’s a clever stage gimmick that modernizes the show in which every actor has a cell phone in hand. There’s even a time when actors are texting one another in the same room with their messages broadcast on an oversized video screen. Other times, live video feeds of the performance appear on the same screen thanks to the array of video devices used on stage.

“Spring Awakening” is not a musical for the faint of heart. It tackles mature themes in a straightforward and bold manner.  However, it is this unapologetic honesty that makes this production so relevant and engaging.

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