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Spring Awakening review – desire and dread in coming-of-age musical

Almeida theatre, London
Rupert Goold’s production of the alt-rock musical has a talented young cast and some striking moments but the songs are often banal

It is audacious of Rupert Goold to stage a flamboyantly morose alt-rock musical about teenage repression and rebellion for a Christmas show. Based on Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play – banned or censored across the ages – it does not have many fuzzy edges and its staging now feels more refreshing for it.

Set in a provincial German town dominated by a cheerless Lutheranism, the story revolves around adolescents dealing with sexual desire, homosexuality, rape, suicide and back-street abortions. Their teen angst was originally set to song by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, partly sparked by the aftermath of the Columbine shootings, and became a big hit on Broadway in 2006.

At the Almeida, London, until 22 January

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/32iTr5k
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