Review: NRACT'S SPRING AWAKENING Delivers Timely Message
By: Lauren Van Hemert Jun. 03, 2018
The Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening begs the question: "How will we know what to do if our parents won't tell us?"
The provocative show, which opened June 1st, closes out North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre's (NRACT) 2017-2018 season. Adapted from Frank Wedekind's 1890 play Spring's Awakening A Children's Tragedy, the musical tells the story of a group of teenagers coming of age and sexual awakening amid a repressive German society. More than a century after Wedekind's play was first performed, the themes of Spring Awakening, including that of sexuality, rape, abuse, incest, abortion, homosexuality, and suicide, are as relevant today as ever, which is why NRACT's Director Tim Locklear felt this was an important story to tell.
In his stage notes, Locklear writes that while the themes and circumstances within the context of the show are tragic, the story he wanted to tell focused on the tragedy that "centers around the destructive things that can happen when we speak at each other instead of to each other." It is Locklear's passion, vision, and enthusiasm for telling this aspect of the story that makes NRACT's production work so well.
Locklear's minimalist staging of the show strips the story down to its core, the development of the characters as they struggle to understand themselves and the relationships between the teenagers and the authoritarian adults around them.
The strong ensemble cast is led by Ford Nelson, who commands the stage as the intellect schoolboy Melchior, Nathan Hamilton, who is ever effective and heartbreaking as Melchior's good friend Moritz, and Natalia Soto, who is perfectly cast as the innocent, naïve, and curious Wendla. The unparalleled trust between Nelson and Soto on stage makes the tragic love story between Melchior and Wendla believable, while the chemistry between Nelson and Hamilton as two good friends, is palpable.
The entire cast tackles Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's award-winning rock score with gusto under the musical direction of Craig Johnson. And Aya Wallace's resourceful choreography makes efficient use of the small stage.
Billed for mature audiences due to content and brief nudity, NRACT's Spring Awakening holds a mirror up to the way in which we communicate with and listen to each other, especially our children, a haunting lesson that will linger long after the final bow.
Spring Awakening runs through June 17th. For more information visit:
Photo credit: Elizabeth Anderson
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