Fans of musicals will be delighted to learn that the critically acclaimed coming-of-age production, “Spring Awakening”, will be staged at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino from April 12.
The rock musical presented by LAMTA is directed by the award-winning Sylvaine Strike.
Interestingly, the show, which delves into the lives of a group of adolescent students discovering their sexual identities and desires as they rebel against the prevailing burdensome and restrictive societal norms, marks her musical debut.
Strike explained: “It’s been a lifetime of developing work that is highly physical, highly visual. I use music in a lot of my work.
“And it’s a very poetic style that I have but I have never ventured into musical theatre territory because I’ve always found it extremely external and lightweight, and I was never drawn to it.
“I had difficulty believing a lot of musicals, to be honest. And then I was offered ‘Spring Awakening’ and I read the book and the lyrics and listened to the music and I was absolutely sold that this was the one musical that I would explore as my first. I felt very connected to it.”
She continued: “I have a teenage child and I have a young adult child of 21 and this material really spoke to me for the fact that the actual story of ‘Spring Awakening’ was written in 1891, and developed into a play, which was banned because it was so controversial as it touched it on such vital subjects pertaining to adolescence.
“And then it was revived in the 1930s, where people were more open to stomach it but still found it very controversial.”
“Spring Awakening” first played on Broadway in 2006 and it won eight Tony awards. It is based on the play by Frank Wedekind, who set his story in a conservative German town in the 1890’s.
Strike explained why she was drawn to the production.
“Nothing has really changed since the 1890s, you think that teenagers are far more plugged in but the fact is that they are still dealing with hormonal changes, they are still dealing with the awakening of their sexuality, they are still dealing with their identity, with parental pressure, with academic pressure, with the risk of mental health illness and so on.
“So everything that was written in ‘Spring Awakening’ so long ago resurfaced in this adaptation of it in the musical form. It spoke to me and I dived right in.”
While this was unfamiliar territory for Strike, her vision for it was very clear-cut.
She shared that she was drawn to “this world of children in high school, in old-fashioned uniforms, and this duality of what is on their mind when they express themselves.”
She added: “It’s kind of like this rock concert, this emotional surge that comes through in contemporary rock. So my vision for it was a beautiful, poetic aesthetic that could be blended with a very contemporary world.
Niall Griffen designed eight little Victorian benches that become so many things when manipulated differently-the boys can be sitting on them in a classroom and the scene morphs into a different setting say, a forest by manipulating the benches and the actors complete the image by using their bodies to form a forest
What was also interesting about this production was the use of an intimacy coordinator.
Strike said: “Look we are dealing with a subject matter that is controversial. And I absolutely insisted that my actors who are very young, some of them as young as 18 and first-year students at LAMTA, which is where this production emerged, needed to feel absolutely comfortable with the intimacy and exploration of each other.
“There isn’t any graphic nudity, there is partial nudity. But the actors had to feel comfortable.
“And the intimacy coordinator brought in was Natalie Fisher, who was my choreographer and intimacy coordinator on ‘The Promise’, which was on last year.”
Francis Chouler and Natalie Robbie are cast in multiple roles with Amy Campbell as the musical director, Anton Luitingh as the resident director, Naoline Quinzin and Anna Olivier as the choreographers with Duane Alexander as oversight, and David Classen as the sound director.
The play carries an age restriction of 13.
Where: Pieter Toerien Montecasino Main Theatre.
When: April 12 - May 5, at 7.30pm with 2.30pm shows on Sunday.
Cost: Ticket prices vary between R200 - R350 and can be purchased through Webtickets.
“The Classroom”
This riveting stage drama unfolds within the dynamic confines of a high school setting, where the echoes of teenage anguish vibrate through the corridors.
It delves deep into the intricate web of student relationships, exposing the multifaceted nature of bullying that lurks in the shadows of adolescence.
As the curtain rises, we are introduced to a diverse group of students navigating the complex social dynamics of the modern classroom.
Where: Sibusiso Khwinana at SA State Theatre, Pretoria.
When: On until April 19.
Cost: R100, contact the theatre office for booking.