Review of Spring Awakening: Groundbreaking? I think not.

‘[Spring Awakening] tells the story of a group of repressed young German adolescents discovering their sexuality in a narrative that features suicide, abortion, homosexuality, flagellation and group masturbation.’ (Telegraph, 4 Feb)

Sounds good on paper. Amazing then, that a show that does feature all of the above can be so unsexy, uninteresting and old-fashioned. I went to the theatre expecting an erotic feast for the senses; instead I endured two hours of teenage melodrama with more clichés than an episode of One Tree Hill.

The basic story is this: boy meets girl, boy has sex with girl, boy gets sent to reformatory (where, of course, everybody speaks with rural accents and talks about shagging parlour maids) girl dies of botched abortion at hands of evil parents, boy considers killing himself a la Romeo and Juliet but is convinced not to by a spectacularly unrousing musical number.

Unsurprisingly, almost nothing about this incredibly contrived show is original or enlightening. Only the flagellation scene (boy beats girl with stick – she likes it) is vaguely provocative/intriguing, but it is surrounded by clunky dialogue and oddly redundant literary references, which I can only assume are intended to trick the audience into thinking they are watching something meaningful. It seems to work; the mere mention of Faust and an appreciative murmur spreads round the theatre, even though the reference is completely irrelevant. I could almost hear the whispers: ‘Faust in a musical? How groundbreaking!’

The audience were, without a doubt, the worst thing about this show. They roared with laughter when a character simulated masturbation in time to a catchy rock number and nearly hyperventilated when the cast broke into ‘Totally Fucked’ (‘they’re saying fucked! In a song!’). By the time it came to the inevitable standing ovation at the curtain calls I had had several serious fantasies about throwing my water bottle at the head of the woman in front of me. But in the end I just lay back and thought of ‘Never Forget’. Now there’s a musical…

Click here for another review of Spring Awakening.

Posted 12:40 PM on Sat Mar 28 2009

By Erotic Dancer

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