Spring Awakening, Richmond Theatre

Proving that teenage angst is nothing new, touring company Headlong have taken on Frank Wedekind’s controversial classic. Spring Awakening’s portrayal of teenage sexuality, depression and suicide caused riots when it was first produced in 1906, and the play has since been banned and censored in several different countries.

It tells the story of a group of German teenagers growing up amid the religious repression of the late-19th century. Denied the facts about sex and fearful of disappointing their parents, they struggle to cope with the pressures of adolescence and the wave of stormy emotions they find themselves confronted with. As events escalate, it soon becomes clear that their troubles can only end in tragedy.

Attempting to make Wedekind’s play as fresh and provocative as when it first appeared, award-winning young playwright Anya Reiss is adapting it for a new generation. This will be the second time that modern young people have been exposed to Wedekind’s stark vision of teenage life, after it was turned into the popular American musical. We expect that Reiss’ version will stick more closely to Wedekind’s original, while offering the same insight into adolescent experience that won her acclaim for her precocious debut play, Spur of the Moment.

Spring Awakening is a further step in Headlong’s mission to offer young and emerging directors the opportunity to direct large-scale touring productions of classics, with Ben Kidd as the latest beneficiary. Previous directors selected for this scheme include Blanche McIntyre, regularly singled out as the next big thing in British directing, and Robert Icke, who is now an associate of Headlong, so we suggest keeping an eye out for Kidd in years to come.