Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 15^th of August 2023

5 stars – Awesome

In the famous opening scene, Wendla begs her mother to tell her how children are made, but all explanation she receives sticks to the word ‘love’, with no further detail. The community of teenagers of the village is thirsty for freedom at the start of the love season. It is always striking to think that the text on which the 2006 Broadway musical was based had been written by Frank Wedekind in 1891, when it was censored because of some of its themes: sexual education, abortion, child abuse, homosexuality, masturbation.

This show is a call for freedom for young people, a tragic cry in the name of a different life than the one they are cased in. One like their parents, where knowledge comes in the period of life when decision-making is over, and everybody is stuck in their roles. The generational conflict, in the character of Melchior, brings up the voice of the aspiration for a social revolution.

In this Dynamik Theatre production of the famous musical, under the Artistic Direction of Jamie Poxon, a lot was made possible with quite little. Little is, especially, the stage, considering that the cast is formed by 12 singers and 4 musicians. Annabel Pilcher (Wanda) has a superb voice, and her interpretation is splendid. Jack Higgins’s (Melchior) voice has an uncommon and beautiful timber that very well fits the character. Everybody in the cast (Ollie Harper, Steph Westwood, Maz Corry, Yasmeen Shaaban, Alex Wheatley, Mitch Brown, Aaron Gibson, Ed Taylor, Callum Thompson, Ed Blann and Ellie Creedon) has very good acting, physical presence, and beautiful voices. Sadly, the volumes of some microphones were a bit off on some occasions.

Music is played live by Callum Thompson (who is also the music director and interprets Gregor), Sam Bevins, Jaren Cannon and Dan Doyle with precision and feeling.

The stage setting (Amy Pinfold) is clever and manages to suggest the different locations where action takes place while keeping the number of props essential and the changes rapid. The effort to make the stage feel less crowded is visible and very precious.

This awesome, fresh version of the classical musical is very powerful and definitely worth seeing.

Tickets and Info: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/spring-awakening

Company Website: https://dynamiktheatre.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dynamiktheatre/

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