Spring Awakening - 8.5 out of 10
Flinders Drama Centre
TICKETS: Spring Awakening | Adelaide Fringe
Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening is a foundational work of modern theatre, written in 1890–91 but not premiered until 1906 due to its controversial subject matter. Flinders Drama Centre’s current production uses a muscular new translation by Drama Centre academic Chris Hay, whose interest in German Modernism and contemporary staging practices makes him an apt match for the material. From Hay’s translation, director Christian Hadgis leads a confident ensemble of 18 second- and third-year actors, alongside first-years who have not yet begun classes, in a production that leans into the play’s enduring ability to disturb, provoke and move.
In his program note, Hadgis observes that Spring Awakening “will always be relevant, because it dares to pull down the curtain and interrogate those things we don’t like to talk about,” and this idea underpins his clear, often arresting stylistic choices. The staging, primarily using milk crates generously donated, allows the text’s themes of sexual awakening, ignorance and punishment to land with undiminished force. Throughout the first half of the play, the milk crates are used as a device to divide the space – and in a pivotal moment, they disappear, opening the stage, leaving nowhere for characters to hide.
Connor Clark anchors the production with a powerful performance as Melchior, the rational, questioning protagonist whose actions set in motion the tragic trajectories of both Moritz and Wendla. It is a role that carries significant dramatic weight, and Clark meets the challenge with ease, building believable, distinct rapport with each character he encounters and maintaining a compelling presence throughout.
As Moritz, the schoolboy paralysed by academic pressure and terror at his own sexual awakening, Connor Turner offers a complex and affecting portrayal. Turner deftly navigates Moritz’s anxiety, shame and eventual despair, and his posthumous scene “from beyond the grave” strikes a delicate balance, bringing a touch of levity in tone while never trivialising the gravity of Moritz’s fate.
Wendla, the first character we meet, is presented as innocent, curious and heartbreakingly naïve, and Wren Somerville captures her mannerisms and restless energy with precision. Wendla’s arc, culminating in her rape by Melchior (and her subsequent death following a coerced abortion in the original text), lands with a particular force, made even more tragic by the warmth Somerville establishes early on. Her scenes with Calantha Hopwood-Craig, as Wendla’s overbearing mother, are especially strong, embodying the misguided “protection” parents of the period attempted to offer their children— echoed, in a different register, by Alissa Harris as Mrs Gabor.
Nate Johnson and Louise Wiles double effectively as cast members and onstage musicians, contributing both musically and dramatically. Their work as Hans and Ernst traces a tender thread of burgeoning homosexuality and self-discovery, offering a brief but welcome moment of hope and affirmation within the surrounding tragedy. The audience clearly relished this lighter, more romantic beat.
Oli Sanders makes a strong impact as Ilse, a free-spirited, seemingly carefree figure whose limited stage time belies her emotional importance. Her scene with Moritz, unknowingly becoming the last person to speak with him before his suicide, lands as one of the show’s quiet gut-punches, highlighting the heartbreaking near-miss of a possible escape.
Throughout the production, numerous smaller roles are handled with assurance, giving many cast members the opportunity to shine. Whether portraying classmates at a school dance, rigid teachers enforcing oppressive norms, or the enigmatic masked man who intervenes to prevent Melchior’s own suicide in the closing moments, the company demonstrates range and commitment that were warmly received by the audience.
Design and staging elements are executed with notable deliberation. Set, costumes, lighting, music, ambient sound and live instruments are all purposeful, never decorative, evoking both period and psychological space. The decision to leave select elements onstage for later use, such as items left behind by characters add a sense of continuity and consequence, suggesting that actions and objects alike leave residues that cannot easily be erased. This thoughtfulness extends to the cast’s exits and entrances: performers do not rush offstage but instead honour the rhythm of each scene, retreating slowly into the darkness upstage before disappearing into the wings, reinforcing the production’s measured, considered tone.
The performance attended concluded with a Q&A session for audience members and visiting Norwood Morialta High School students, offering valuable insight into the production’s development, the students’ collaborative processes, and practical advice for those aspiring to enter the Drama course in future. This educational component usefully extended the life of the performance.
Spring Awakening remains confronting more than a century after it was written, confronting topics including rape, child abuse, suicide and abortion that continue to resonate and unsettle. This production meets that challenge head-on, and prospective audience members should be aware of these themes and take care if they are sensitive to such material.
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