Spring Awakening

Synopsis

Set in 19th century Germany, this fusion of morality, sexuality, and young love reaches out across generations to everyone who has experienced the adolescent journey of personal discovery and sexual awakening.

Our Review:

27 March 2009

Fuelled by the five-star recommendations of colleagues and friends who’d seen it in New York or Hammersmith, my expectations for this show’s West End transfer were driven sky-high – and, with that, came the invariable dread that the reality couldn’t possibly match the hype. However, to my immense relief, I had nothing to fear.

Spring Awakening is everything it should be: fresh, exciting, enthralling, irreverent, hugely entertaining and performed with almost psychotic energy and exuberant abandon by a young cast in possession of bucketloads of talent. Of the three leads, it’s hard to take your eyes off Aneurin Barnard, a young Rufus Sewell lookalike with all the moody intelligence of his elder, as Melchior, or to be unmoved by Iwan Rheon, as his sleep-deprived friend Moritz with his electric shock mop, and Charlotte Wakefield, as the besotted but fatally ignorant Wendla. Also making a remarkable – and remarkably touching – debut, aged just 16, is [Lucy...

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Latest User Review

David Baxter - 20 May 2009:

The Drowsy Chaperone, Desperately Seeking Susan, Spring Awakening - is the Novello the new Shaftesbury Theatre? Just Like the wonderful Drowsy, Spring Awakening deserves much better. On a second viewing it is even better than at Hammersmith, revealing far more depth to the story and the rock score sounds so much better in context than on the CD. Mention should also be made of a brilliant lighting design, but the choreography is still awful. Much has been made of the youth of the cast but Sian Thomas and Richard Cordery are excellent in all the adult roles. The young cast have greatly improved with more experience even if one or two of the vocals are a bit rough. More will be seen of them, particularly Aneurin Barnard and the exquisite Charlotte Wakefield but sadly not of Spring Awakening. I have no idea why it failed to find an audience (the prices can't have helped) but it is desperately sad that such a brave show will not be seen again in the West End....

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