Belvoir’s B Sharp program featured another interpretation of a classic with Simon Stone’s production for Melbourne’s Hayloft Theatre Company of German playwright Frank Wedekind’s play ‘Spring Awakening’.
The setting of Wedekind’s play is a small, provincial town at the turn of the 19th century with a group of school children struggling with their surprising sexual awakening. The barriers to knowledge and experience passed down from their parents and teachers hinder the young people’s quest for sexual and self-enlightenment.
Wedekind’s world is a similar world to the world depicted in Peter Weir’s movie ‘Dead Poet’s Society’. Its the feverish, passionate world of adolescence, where everything seems possible, hitting against the repressed, conservative adult world, with tragedy ensuing.
Stone’s production is tight, there’s a great set design by Adam Gardnir, and the cast give committed performances with stand-out performances by Angus Graham as Melchior, Katie-Jean Harding as Wendla, and Aaron Orzech as Moritz.
