Post by Valancy on Apr 10, 2010 12:15:20 GMT -5
Tavaszébredés (Spring Awakening) - Budapesti Operettszínház, Raktárszínház, stúdióváltozat - March 27, 28 and 29, 2010
Note: this review was rather difficult to write, because this production is very hard to describe, being so weird and unusual and full of interesting things. That's why it also ended up being quite long once again; it just didn't seem to be possible to describe it briefly. I hope I manage to describe it at least somewhat understandably and do the production some justice. In being able to put it into words at all, I'm much indebted to my discussions with my friend who I saw the show with, and some of the phrases and ideas are hers.
In the end of March I saw the newest Hungarian production of Spring Awakening. For those who don’t know this show, it’s based on the late 19th century play by Frank Wedekind, which with its treatment of numerous rough issues for young people (sexuality, teen pregnancy, suicide, physical abuse, homosexuality etc.) was found so scandalous it was only performed in theatre decades later. The musical version has slightly softened some of the roughest things about the Wedekind play, but is still such a collection of issues that I originally wouldn’t have thought I would have liked it as much as I did: it seemed to be like too obvious a ploy to "make young people think" and shock everyone. But somehow I’ve become very fond of it: it really has content and depth rather than just trying to look like it does, and it provides catharsis though all those dark issues.
The premise for those who don’t know the show: The main story revolves around Melchior, Wendla and Moritz. Wendla suspects that the stork doesn’t really bring babies but can’t get her mother to tell her how it happens; Melchior in turn knows much more about this than others, having studied everything in books, but it doesn’t make him more responsible as his curiosity overwhelms him, and when he and Wendla explore their sexuality together, it leads to Wendla’s pregnancy and death at the hands of an abortion doctor, while Melchior ends up in a correction institute. Melchior’s friend Moritz is doing poorly in his studies and even the rest of his concentration disappears at the dreadful nightmares he has about threatening female bodies, being equally clueless about sexuality as Wendla is and finding Melchior’s well-meant information only more confusing. When he fails his exams and disappoints his father, he doesn’t feel he can cope with the world and commits suicide.
About this production
This new Hungarian production premiered at the end of last year at the Raktárszínház, a small stage of the Operettszínház (one of the biggest musical and operetta theatres in Hungary), which is usually used for rehearsals but sometimes also for small and slightly experimental operetta and musical productions. All of the actors are from the Pesti Broadway Stúdio, the theatre school of the Operettszínház.
I’ve seen the musical in three different productions previously: the first Hungarian production, which was the first non-replica production and premiered in early 2009 and closed down some months later as it did not sell very well; and the Vienna and Finnish productions which were closer to replicas of the Broadway production. This new Hungarian production is not like any of them; it’s not like any version of Spring Awakening ever. I was originally suspicious when I saw pictures and saw that the young people were dressed in modern clothes: how would the cluelessness about sex and the extreme strictness of the parents work in today’s world? I felt equally suspicious about the actors playing the adult characters being the same age as the rest. But when I saw how this production was actually done, it all worked and made perfect sense - in the way this production makes sense, anyway.
This production of the musical is staged as a classroom play done by a modern school class. Throughout the story it moves between these two levels of reality, or rather intermingling these two levels so that it’s not always clear which level we’re on, or we’re on both of them at the same time, and both levels affect each other. The story is always moving on with the musical’s scenes, but the classroom level affects the way they’re done, and the feelings of the students playing the characters affect the characters, though they also become the characters themselves. I’m not sure that makes sense, but it’s difficult to explain it in a way that makes sense, however it’s clearer when you’re seeing it.
My friend who saw it with me described the production as dreamlike, and it’s very fitting: in a dream you can both be observing the events and participating in them, you can be in two places at the same time or two people at the same time, and while everything may seem strange in daytime logic, it works in the dream and makes its own sense. This is very true of this production, not only in the movement between these two reality levels but also everything else. There’s a lot about it that’s strange, even exaggerated and absurd, and I can’t explain it all in an understandable way, but it was a very powerful and cathartic theatrical experience that made a lot of sense in its own strange way.
In the beginning the students draw sticks to determine who plays the adult roles (of course in reality they’re always the same actors), and those divide out the roles for the rest and give direction to the play by making sure the right actors are on stage doing the what they should. They become very deeply drawn into their roles and it kind of spins out of control, with the adult role players becoming drunk on their own power and becoming very demonic versions of the characters they play, insisting that the others go on in the darker and darker emotional torture the story is becoming for them. The young people actors one by one try to get away from the story but are prevented by the adult role players, and in the end the adults enthrall in inflicting horrible emotional torture on Moritz, Melchior and Wendla while the rest have gotten off the stage, before it’s all released in a cathartic end.
The actors playing the adults, Enikő Moravszki (Adult Women) and Balázs Angler (Adult Men) do their job terrifically, being very believable as young people who take on the most horrible aspects of adults and become transformed into something terrifying. My friend said the story reminded her of the so-called Stanford experiment where students were divided into prisoners and guards, but the experiment had to be interrupted when the guards got too into their roles and started truly enjoying inflicting more and more horrible torture on the prisoners. These two characters also have different approaches to this development: the Adult Women player is at first reluctant to accept the role of being the “bad adults” that is thrust on her, but early on she decides that she will accept it and be as cynical and cruel as she needs to be and also enjoy her power; and it is she who becomes the most horrible and demonic force during the play. The Adult Men seems to approach it at first more as a fun game to play that he doesn’t take too seriously, but gradually also becomes sucked into the power play and into the dark aspects of adults that he plays. At times he overdoes it even more than the Adult Women, but he also regrets his actions more visibly in the end.
I really liked all this, because of Balázs and Enikő’s wonderful performances and because of the new dimensions it gave to the story. The productions of the musical often run a risk of making too caricatured and harsh depictions of adults. But in this case it was fine to do this in an even more exaggerated way than usual, because it was clearly showing only the dark sides of adults as the young people see them, and as the young people will overdo them when they’re for once given the position of power. They were so demonic it was obvious they were not supposed to represent realistic adults but rather young people’s nightmare versions of them, sort of demonic forces which overtake people and make them be negative influence in others’ lives.
The school play aspect also comes through in all the characters being present on stage all the time, except near the end where the minor characters leave for some time. The characters are always following each others’ stories and commenting on them, and you can see their own stories evolving in others’ scenes, too. For example, Moritz is first as interested in the others’ goings-on as everyone else, and curious about Melchior and Wendla’s first encounters. But after he fails his exams and disappoints his father, you can see him drawing away from everyone else. Though he sings the songs with them, he’s standing or sitting apart, clearly wrapped in his own sorrows and giving his own meanings to the words rather than sharing the meanings of everyone else.
There are also developments for more minor characters: for example there is something of a romance that gradually develops between Anna and Thea, though it’s not alluded to in the words or made any special scene of. In the early scenes you can see Anna gazing at Thea with clear interest while Thea doesn’t notice, but especially after Moritz’s death when everyone is seeking consolation, they become closer in a new way, and while Hanschen and Ernst find each other so do Anna and Thea in the background. It’s not made any special notice of, and I don’t know how easily I’d have paid attention to it if I hadn’t noticed them sinking into a tender embrace during the Hanschen/Ernst scene the first time I saw the musical; but it nicely gives them both more depth and a story of their own.
Because everyone is present on stage all the time, this production doesn’t have any extra background singers but rather everyone else is providing the background, and often characters are also participating in scenes they’re not normally in. For example in the Mama who bore me reprise, while the girls are mainly singing the song, the boys are providing beatbox background, dancing and singing with them - which works, because it is about a problem that’s common for both sexes, not to mention that the musical arrangement of that song becomes totally awesome. Generally I loved the musical arrangements in this version, they worked really energetically.
Everyone is in modern clothes all the time because of the classroom play connection, though the story takes place in the past. There are no clothes changes for anyone; there’s also no nudity. Everything comes through clearly enough in the acting. Compared to the previous Hungarian production, a lot of the choreography (choreographed by Ákos Tihányi) is the same, but very little else is.
There are also some other elements of modernity besides the clothing, for example the porn magazines everyone seems to be reading, at least Melchior who also uses them to instruct the bewildered Moritz, and Hanschen who hilariously discovers a male porn magazine underneath the female one he first uses during his masturbation scene. In general the staging sometimes feels like the play has been read with as dirty-minded teenager mindset as possible and then put on stage that way: everything you can get something dirty and teenager-ish out of is done that way, whether it’s supposed to be that way or not. For example Melchior doesn’t read Faust, he reads the abovementioned porn magazines and pretends to his mother it’s Faust. While it sometimes got annoying because it removed some other dimensions I like, it still also works. Maybe especially because of the classroom play level - since the story is staged as today’s teenagers doing this musical in a way that makes sense to them, it’s done that way to the fullest, dirty humour and all. Besides, it isn’t only about the dirty humour. It’s perhaps used to lighten up the fact that in the end this musical goes really, really deep into the dark and difficult emotions of the story, deeper than I’ve seen any other version do, and also comes through with much more to think about and a much stronger catharsis.
The set design is extremely simple. There’s a small stage, with the back part of it higher than the rest and also including a small rising platform. The rising platform isn’t used nearly at the frequency it is in usual Operettszínház musicals, but only in places where it’s used in most other Spring Awakening productions: with Ilse and Martha singing their song, with Wendla and Melchior’s sex scene, and with Moritz’s suicide scene. The rest of the set pieces are: a bunch of chairs that the actors move around depending on the needs of the scene; and two metal pillars on the side of the stage, used for various purposes but in the second act mainly for chaining Moritz and later Wendla into them when they die.
Everyone being on stage all the time also applies after death. Dying is signified by tying the person with handcuffs and chaining them to one of the pillars on the side of the stage. This is done to Moritz, and later more violently (as she doesn’t want to die) to Wendla. Moritz keeps on observing the events on stage after his death, now partly with a detached, sarcastic amusement that mirrors the attitude of his ghost in the original Wedekind play. He even bursts into laughter in the middle of his own funeral ; he also sings and rocks along with the other kids in "Totally f**ked", which was a truly endearing sight. But when things start to get really bad for Melchior and Wendla, he begins to protest and even tries to get back on stage to interfere, though of course he can’t, being chained to the pillar.
The ending is really strange. First, during Melchior’s time in the correction institute, like in the previous Hungarian version it’s implied that the other boys rape Melchior in addition to otherwise torturing him. During this scene first the girls (except Wendla) and in the end the boys (except Melchior and Moritz) leave the stage, and this time the adults allow them to go. During the implied rape scene Moritz tries to leap on stage to help Melchior, but can’t. Wendla gets chained to the pillar by the Adult Woman to signify her dying of the abortion. Then the events become even stranger.
The adult characters say the lines normally belonging to Ilse and the girls to show that Melchior has fled and expects to meet Wendla, not knowing that she’s dead. The adult characters, while explaining to Melchior that Wendla is dead, tie him with handcuffs like them but don’t chain him into a pillar. Now he sees Moritz and Wendla, and they all begin to laugh hysterically. The adult characters also tie everyone’s eyes, and torment Moritz and Wendla, the Adult Male forcibly kissing and groping Wendla, the Adult Female teasing Moritz but not making direct sexual advances to him. Wendla and Moritz both visibly hate it, suffer and protest and want to get out of this crazy play, but cannot. The Adult Male tortures Melchior by relating to him all the awful things that have happened and his own dark thoughts with a mocking voice. Eventually the adult characters release Moritz and Wendla from the pillars and drag them forcibly to the forestage, leaving the two of them there to suffer while Melchior stays on the back part of the stage and begins to contemplate suicide with Moritz’s gun. This scene is so chaotic it’s hard to describe, but it’s emotionally extremely dark and intense, and I at least was crying along with the characters just from the sheer emotional power and intensely spiraling suffering of everyone.
Eventually Moritz begins the "Those You Know" song and Wendla joins him; they plead Melchior not to commit suicide while he, crushed and broken, still seriously contemplates it. He throws the gun away in the end, probably to signify that he doesn’t choose death. But it’s otherwise a bit unclear, because he, Moritz and Wendla are all in a similar position during the song, he is handcuffed and blindfolded like them and they’re no longer chained to the pillars. And in the end while "Song of Purple Summer" begins and Ilse gets on stage, she releases Melchior, but then she also releases Moritz and Wendla, so even this isn’t really a sign of Melchior staying alive. As all the characters come on stage to join the song, the way they move and interact signifies that Moritz and Wendla are still staying in the world of death, sharing their fate with each other in sympathy while saying goodbye to those in the world they’ve left behind. Even if the preceding events have been surreal and a bit unclear, it’s a powerfully cathartic end. At the same time you can see the Adult Male especially regretting his actions; with the Adult Female, who also in the beginning chose her demonic role more consciously, it’s less clear if she regrets or not, but at least she doesn’t try to do anything anymore either, as her role in the story is over.
I’m not sure how well I understand the ending, but I’m clearly not the only one. After every show they organize a discussion between those members of the audience who want to stay, and someone from the directing theme and some actors. We stayed for one of these, where the assistant director and two actors were. The assistant director asked everyone if anyone understood the ending, and nobody dared to admit to understanding it. Then she began to talk about it and it seemed even she could not give a conclusive answer about everything in it, though she had some interpretations to offer. I do hope someone somewhere has thought about the ending thoroughly and sees meaning to everything, because it would be annoying if it were that way just for the purpose of weirding out everyone. But I do trust that the director himself as definite ideas about why everything is the way it is, and perhaps just hasn’t been able to communicate them in a way that would be easy to describe. Because I feel that way about it, too: I can’t explain it, I don’t know if I’ve understood it in the way that it should be understood, but on some unspoken emotional level it works extremely well for me. I just can’t for the life of me explain why, or what I think about some of the symbolism in it. Again, I guess it’s like a dream: some powerful dream symbols - or some metaphors in poetry - make sense in a mysterious emotional and psychological level, without you ever being able to explain in words how and why.
This isn’t any closer to the previous Hungarian production than it is to other productions of the musical. In some ways it is closer to the original Wedekind play than any other version, even if the modernity connection makes some things very different. But the play, I feel, has a lot of that dreamlikeness and strangeness, and I love that this production has more of its twisted humour and macabre quality, for example in Moritz’s ghost’s presence on the stage after his death and his reactions to everything, including his own funeral. Many of the characterizations are also closer to the original, or in other ways work better than they do in other versions, at least in my opinion.
This is also definitely nothing like a normal Operettszínház musical. I’m beginning to have more and more respect for the director Szilárd Somogyi: he’s able to direct interesting musicals that are not copies of the usual Operettszínház gimmicks, though this one is definitely the most different thing he has ever done there. Even if the direction is sometimes so strange I don’t understand it, it’s incredibly powerful and I hope this version will stay in the repertoire after the summer break, so that I can see it more times. Now that I know what to expect, I think there’s still much more to get out of seeing it.
I understand now why I couldn’t find any detailed descriptions of this production beforehand: it really is hard to describe, and I don’t know if I’ve been able to do it understandably, either. I can also see why it has really divided opinions among theatregoers. It’s extremely strange and may require more than one viewing to start understanding it and appreciating everything that’s good about it. And it’s certainly so unusual and experimental that I don’t wonder it’s not to everyone’s taste. While I loved it, I can see it not working for everyone. To be honest, if I’d only read a detailed description of it beforehand, I’m not sure if I would have expected to like it so much, because I’m not usually into so strange and experimental theatre. But this one somehow worked with its amazing intensity and emotional power, and with its quirky, dreamlike weirdness that appeals more to me than I could have known. And while previously I thought the old Hungarian production was the best production of this musical, after digesting this one for a while I’m beginning to feel it is actually my favourite. It just gets so amazingly much out of the story, telling the story of the play but without sticking only to the obvious ways of doing it and the obvious meanings. I would love to do a scene-by-scene description where I would tell everything this did differently from other versions and how it worked, and what I loved and didn’t love; but I’m not sure such a detailed telling would interest many people, so I will refrain from it.
Cast and characters
I didn’t feel it was possible to describe the characters and the actors before I’ve described the way the production is done. I already earlier described the adult characters and praised their actors, Enikő Moravszki and Balázs Angler. They carry the piece much more than in usual productions, and both of the actors did the most fantastically in portraying those young people who take on the vilest characteristics of adults. Though they sing a bit more than usual - "All That’s Known" has become a duet between Melchior and the Adult Man, and both adult characters sometimes sing along with the young in the group scenes - I didn’t get to hear their voices much, though from the previous production I remember them both being good singers (Enikő played Martha, and Balázs played Melchior). I would love to see them get roles in other musicals as well; though this goes for some other actors, too, the cast was overall excellent. Only their youth reminded me of them all being students as they were quite skilled already, and they were all extremely well cast in their roles.
Wendla - Vera Fekete-Kovács.
I liked the way Wendla was done here. Usually the character is a little hard to relate to in her extreme innocence, but here because of the show being done as a classroom play by modern pupils, she felt a bit more modern. While it was still possible to understand that in the context of the story she wouldn’t know where babies came from, she seemed to have a lot going on in her head and had a lot of personality and spine. She definitely didn’t seem weak or stupid, which can sometimes be a danger in this role. She seemed like a nice, intelligent girl, someone I could relate to and would have liked to be friends with at school.
Vera did great in this role. She is very expressive and convinced me with her intense and emotion-filled acting. Her voice is really good, too, nice in sound with lots of power, and she can use it well to express emotion. She’s pretty and has lots of personality in her looks, and her features are clear and her eyes large and dark, making her facial expressions very noticeable (though that theatre is so small you see everyone very well all the time, anyway). I’d love to see her get more roles in future.
Melchior - Dénes Kocsis.
Somehow I don’t have a lot to say about him. He did fine; he has a good voice, he can act, he looks nice. I can’t say there’s anything wrong with him, yet I wasn’t at all interested in him. Partly it may just be because I’m not as interested in Melchior as I am in e.g. Moritz or Wendla, and now also the adult characters were far more interesting. And I think they had made Melchior more ordinary than usual on purpose; I already mentioned that he reads porn magazines rather than Faust, and he generally seemed to be directed as being a rather ordinary guy, not as having some shine of specialness. But I do feel there was also something lackluster about Dénes, though I can’t point out what. Maybe he has enough charisma for a small role like Georg (where I liked him last year) but not a big role like this one; maybe his acting, while superficially fine, lacked depth and detail; or maybe he’s just not the type that I’m interested to watch for a long time. Either way, after establishing on the first time what he was like, I paid very little attention to him in the rest of the shows and was happier following everyone else more. He seems to have quite a lot of fans among those girls who’ve seen the show, and I can sort of understand that, he is the type, but he lacked any spark for me.
Moritz - György (Gyuri) Mihálka
Being one of my favourite actors already from Vámpírok Bálja (where he’s one of the best Alfreds ever), he was of course the reason why I was particularly keen to see this show, and he was also my favourite thing about it. It was interesting to see him in another role than Alfred, and one that had been directed in such a different way. At first I felt surprised by the overacting of the first few scenes: Moritz’s strangeness and silliness in the beginning is over-emphasized rather excessively, with exaggerated laughs and voice tones that didn’t always fit the scenes. I soon concluded that this was not a fault in Gyuri’s acting but rather the director’s choice, though, as it became evident that there was such exaggeration with other characters in other scenes, too; and once Moritz’s story started to progress, there definitely was no overacting from Gyuri’s part. As soon as his story begins to take a more serious turn - around Touch Me and even more from when he fails his exams - his acting is very beautiful, deep and strong and intense, with a great deal of emotion and not a trace of overacting. He acts it extremely convincingly, down to often being in tears himself during his scenes. He made the viewer also experience Moritz’s sad story deeply, and made me cry along with him.
Moritz has been my favourite character ever since I got to know this musical. And Gyuri is my favourite Moritz now; while previously it was Dávid Pirgel from the previous Budapest production, I loved Gyuri even more. With his great intensity, quirkiness and sensitivity he is the closest to the Moritz in my head, capturing him in a way nobody ever has yet, and with such emotional power. I think this production generally tries to bring Moritz closer to the original Wedekind play, by not ignoring the humorous and tragicomical sides, and by having his ghost stay around commenting on the events with sarcastic amusement, but not forgetting his affection for Melchior. At times Moritz also seems a bit mad, not just depressed.
I think the exaggeration of the acting in the first scenes must have been partly to bring across the comical and silly side of the character, and also perhaps, because in the play almost everyone thinks Moritz a weirdo, the director wanted us to see him that way at first and only then begin to see that there’s a real tragedy going on with him. A part of it may also have been to emphasize the classroom play aspect, by having the actor overact before starting to get into the role. It was interesting once I got used to it, but I still wish there had been a bit less of that, because I’d have liked to see how Gyuri would have acted those scenes in a more natural manner, and because I fear that less experienced viewers may think he can’t act, at least not comic scenes - you would have to be blind and deaf not to see that he can act tragic scenes...
Another reason why Gyuri’s Moritz was particularly good for me: I feel especially in the original play that Moritz doesn’t only commit suicide because he’s depressed but also because he has an original, quirky way of thinking that leads him into this result; and Gyuri portrayed this aspect of him better than anyone. And he’s just made to play emotionally fragile characters who’ve nevertheless got force of personality, with his pretty but unique looks, his slender physique, and his great voice.
I was curious about how he would sound in this musical which is quite different in music style from Tanz der Vampire where he can let out his quasi-classical singing voice awesomely in Alfred’s big solo etc. Here he didn’t have so many chances to do that kind of thing, and had to sing a bit less classically, but he still sounded great in a way that worked with this pop/rock music but was still distinctly his own singing style. And when he could let his voice soar, oh, it sounded gorgeous. He’s also great at putting emotion into his voice and varying the strength of his voice depending on the emotional needs of the scene. His voice has enough of an unusual sound that I think it fits a character like Moritz really well; he should sound unique, and Gyuri’s voice has both sensitivity and strength, just like it should. And I appreciate his ability to sing so fantastically while crying.
Even though the kids in this production generally had good voices, Gyuri could often be heard over the others in the group singing scenes. Perhaps it’s also because of the unique colour of his voice and because he’s often given the highest or otherwise distinctive part to sing.
I thought I would be annoyed with giving him the messy hair that stands up, because I dislike it in other productions and last year I was so glad they didn’t give Moritz that in the previous production. But in this production they did; however, it worked totally fine, partly because they’re in modern clothes anyway so it looks okay there, and partly because that hairstyle looks better on Gyuri than it does on most people. His facial features go better with it. They also did it in a more natural way than in the other productions.
Ilse - Nóra Réder
I love how they did Ilse here. I haven’t been quite happy with her in any other version; in the usual version they seem to make her a bit too neat and some kind of a saving angel, glossing over the nasty situation in life she’s in now to present her as simply the hope for the future; and in the previous Budapest production she was too psychotic and weird. Here she was just right, a girl who’s had a lot of rough times and is not emotionally well, but who still represents the ability to somehow keep on going on and finding hope and joy despite everything. There are some indications that she has to resort to prostitution now, or at least a situation that’s close to prostitution.
Nóra was perfect for the part, she’s just the type I imagine Ilse to be, she looks right, and her strong, warm voice is just the kind of voice Ilse should have. She sounds lovely and emotional, and can sing strongly without shouting. Her Ilse has guts and emotion, she suffers but keeps on finding strength and interest in life. I don’t know if I could ask for a better actress for this part. And I’m sure that when Nóra gets more experience, she will also be good in many other roles in other musicals, and I hope she will get them.
Oh, and I liked how the Moritz/Ilse scene was done. In the usual production I hate it how they just stand next to each other and don’t even seem to talk to each other. In the previous Budapest version I felt it went a bit too far in the other direction, making them grope each other so intensely it wasn’t really necessary. This one was somewhere in between, with interaction and touching between them, but not so gropey and obviously sexual, more like two lost young people who are fumblingly looking for some comfort from another human being but don’t even know what they want, especially Moritz. It felt just right.
Martha - Boglárka Simon
Another whom I particularly liked. Her acting was touching, sweet and emotion-filled, she looked and felt so sensitive and fragile that it was awful to think of someone like her going through what she did, but she still had a spine, too. She’s very small with huge eyes and soft features which made her expressions noticeable and her character even sadder. Her voice is maybe not the best, but it suits Martha’s song all right.
I also liked that, as Martha is the girl who says she likes Moritz while everyone else goes on about Melchior, they had picked up on that and emphasized it here. There’s a lot of (mostly wordless) interaction between Martha and Moritz where you can sense that she really cares a lot about him and he also likes her, only they’re both too shy and confused to ever really approach each other except in fantasies. It made both of their stories even more touching, and Boglárka and Gyuri worked really well together and acted sweetly.
Hanschen - Balázs Gulyás(/Dávid Pirgel) and Ernst - Szilárd Zadóri
Hanschen is one of my favourite characters besides Moritz, and I was really happy with how they had done him here. I don’t like it that in most productions he’s turned into a slimy, creepy seducer who corrupts the gullible little Ernst. I was already happy with the Finnish version who was genuinely likeable and non-slimy. But this was even more sympathetic, as Balázs’s Hanschen was really just as clueless as Ernst. He was maybe just more eager and conscious about exploring his sexuality, but when it came to actually doing something he scarcely knew more than Ernst what he was doing, and it was very sweet and adorable fumbly experimenting with genuine affection from both sides. Their interest in each other comes through in lots of cute ways throughout the story, and is presented as sweet and endearing rather than as something creepy.
When they have to do their love scene together, the classroom play level clearly comes through. The boys are reluctant and nervous to do the scene in front of everyone else, though you can also sense that they kind of like doing it and are attracted to each other. It seems like both Hanschen and Ernst, and the actors playing them on the classroom-play level (I’m not saying anything about the real actors!) are attracted to each other but confused about admitting it. It was adorable on so many levels. The choreography is more touchy-feely than in most versions, though less than in the previous Budapest version, but the kissing is very tentative, which suits the dynamic between them.
Generally, Balázs plays his Hanschen with lots of personality, he’s likeable and funny, I liked him very much. In one of the performances he had somewhere else to be, and instead he had Dávid Pirgel, who is the only one who is not a PBS student, and who doesn’t normally play this role - he’s only done it a few times as an emergency cover, and as far as I know he didn’t participate in the rehearsal period. In my opinion you could see this in his acting. He wasn’t bad, I just didn’t really feel his interpretation fitted this version of the musical, and it didn’t feel very well developed. It was closer to the usual confident seducer Hanschens of other productions, and sure, he did more intense kissing and touching which can be nice, but I preferred Balázs’s version because he had more layers to his acting and made me more interested in the character. Dávid’s version of the Hanschen/Ernst scene also lacked that intermingling and interaction between the classroom play level and the story level, it was very straightforward, and he didn’t have the sweet uncertainty that I adored in Balázs’s version. Overall Balázs fit this production better, also in the ensemble scenes I felt that Dávid somehow wasn’t part of this production’s emotional state and atmosphere. Of course it’s not his fault as he hasn’t had so much time to practice with them, and maybe some people still prefer his approach to the character, but for me Balázs’s version works better. Balázs’s voice is also stronger.
Szilárd Zadóri played an adorable Ernst. He’s very sweet, funny and enthusiastic and generally Ernst-like, a bit clueless and innocent, but I liked it that he wasn’t spineless and was still totally a boy, even if dressed in pinkish-purple flower t-shirt - well, Ernst seems like a hippie type. His voice is really good, one of the strongest and nicest among the boys. I’d really like to see him do more and bigger roles some time, I’d be interested to see what he can do.
Georg - Krisztián Heisz
There’s not a lot to say Krisztián about this character, though he has a bit more going on than Ottó, with his piano teacher stuff. Krisztián is totally new, I think, and this seems to be his first role, so maybe that’s also why I don’t find a lot to say about him. He did fine and was competent, he was funny when he needed to be and fit the role, but I don’t find anything more remarkable to say. His voice is not the best, but it was okay and may become better with time.
Otto - Szabolcs Kádár
Otto has even less going on than Georg, though in this production they were making him the know-it-all of the class more strongly than usual, so that gave him some extra personality. Szabolcs did fine in this role, and he has an expressive face and a nice voice, but it’s hard to say more than that about him. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in some other role to see more of what he can do, I felt positively enough about him.
Anna - Tünde Kiss
I remember she annoyed me in the last production, I hated her voice which was kind of nasal and bleaty, and there was something about her attitude I didn’t like. Here they’d made her work better, because they had made that attitude and voice work with the character, turning Anna into a kind of a future-lawyer-girl who plays around with the guys because she doesn’t care about them - her affections are obviously fixed on Thea (well, obviously if you notice that storyline, as it happens on the background), not on any boys. And Tünde’s voice had gotten a bit better, though I still wouldn’t be overtly thrilled to hear her sing an entire song alone. But I basically liked her in this one, and the direction gave the character a lot more personality than usual.
Thea - Anna Török
In the Thea/Anna romance Thea is the one who’s mostly oblivious to Anna’s interest and keeps squeeing about Melchior instead. So she comes across as a bit silly and shallow but essentially well-meaning girly girl. She played the part well enough and has a promising voice, and looks cute. It’s hard to say more than that.
Well, that’s all. I don’t know if I’ve been very successful at describing this production, but hopefully I’ve been able to give some idea of it. I’ve tried to be as factual as it’s possible in this case, while also giving my own opinion, but it’s probably impossible to describe this one objectively. So much of the way it’s directed and staged requires your own interpretation, imagination and emotional response to make sense at all, and I’m not sure everything is supposed to make sense. So what I describe is my own interpretation of what I’ve seen, and someone else could interpret some things quite differently.
When I first saw this version, I was rather "WTF" even if I liked many things about it. After digesting it and seeing it more times, I began to love it. It hasn’t really left me since, it keeps disturbing me and asking for more thought and explanation. I love that. It’s not the easiest show to see and understand, and I’m sure it’s not for everyone. And by this I don’t mean anything snobby; it’s just weird and unusual enough that I can see it not working for everyone. Also people who are attached to a particular version of Spring Awakening may have trouble if they’re not prepared to encounter something completely different and open their minds to it without expecting the version they already know and love.
But I love this, and if at all possible I would like to see it again because I’m sure I’ll get a lot more out of it when I know what to expect. I love that it’s not easy to understand or describe and that it keeps troubling me. Sure, entertaining fluff is good to have in life; but what I love the best in theatre as well as everything else is something that can also make me think and wonder and ask questions, and look at things in a different way, and stays with me and affects me. And something that can’t be summed up in a few easy catchphrases and pop culture tropes. Because I like it when someone can make something original and inventive instead of repeating everything that we are used to, and whatever else may be said about this production, they’ve certainly managed to do that.
Note: this review was rather difficult to write, because this production is very hard to describe, being so weird and unusual and full of interesting things. That's why it also ended up being quite long once again; it just didn't seem to be possible to describe it briefly. I hope I manage to describe it at least somewhat understandably and do the production some justice. In being able to put it into words at all, I'm much indebted to my discussions with my friend who I saw the show with, and some of the phrases and ideas are hers.
In the end of March I saw the newest Hungarian production of Spring Awakening. For those who don’t know this show, it’s based on the late 19th century play by Frank Wedekind, which with its treatment of numerous rough issues for young people (sexuality, teen pregnancy, suicide, physical abuse, homosexuality etc.) was found so scandalous it was only performed in theatre decades later. The musical version has slightly softened some of the roughest things about the Wedekind play, but is still such a collection of issues that I originally wouldn’t have thought I would have liked it as much as I did: it seemed to be like too obvious a ploy to "make young people think" and shock everyone. But somehow I’ve become very fond of it: it really has content and depth rather than just trying to look like it does, and it provides catharsis though all those dark issues.
The premise for those who don’t know the show: The main story revolves around Melchior, Wendla and Moritz. Wendla suspects that the stork doesn’t really bring babies but can’t get her mother to tell her how it happens; Melchior in turn knows much more about this than others, having studied everything in books, but it doesn’t make him more responsible as his curiosity overwhelms him, and when he and Wendla explore their sexuality together, it leads to Wendla’s pregnancy and death at the hands of an abortion doctor, while Melchior ends up in a correction institute. Melchior’s friend Moritz is doing poorly in his studies and even the rest of his concentration disappears at the dreadful nightmares he has about threatening female bodies, being equally clueless about sexuality as Wendla is and finding Melchior’s well-meant information only more confusing. When he fails his exams and disappoints his father, he doesn’t feel he can cope with the world and commits suicide.
About this production
This new Hungarian production premiered at the end of last year at the Raktárszínház, a small stage of the Operettszínház (one of the biggest musical and operetta theatres in Hungary), which is usually used for rehearsals but sometimes also for small and slightly experimental operetta and musical productions. All of the actors are from the Pesti Broadway Stúdio, the theatre school of the Operettszínház.
I’ve seen the musical in three different productions previously: the first Hungarian production, which was the first non-replica production and premiered in early 2009 and closed down some months later as it did not sell very well; and the Vienna and Finnish productions which were closer to replicas of the Broadway production. This new Hungarian production is not like any of them; it’s not like any version of Spring Awakening ever. I was originally suspicious when I saw pictures and saw that the young people were dressed in modern clothes: how would the cluelessness about sex and the extreme strictness of the parents work in today’s world? I felt equally suspicious about the actors playing the adult characters being the same age as the rest. But when I saw how this production was actually done, it all worked and made perfect sense - in the way this production makes sense, anyway.
This production of the musical is staged as a classroom play done by a modern school class. Throughout the story it moves between these two levels of reality, or rather intermingling these two levels so that it’s not always clear which level we’re on, or we’re on both of them at the same time, and both levels affect each other. The story is always moving on with the musical’s scenes, but the classroom level affects the way they’re done, and the feelings of the students playing the characters affect the characters, though they also become the characters themselves. I’m not sure that makes sense, but it’s difficult to explain it in a way that makes sense, however it’s clearer when you’re seeing it.
My friend who saw it with me described the production as dreamlike, and it’s very fitting: in a dream you can both be observing the events and participating in them, you can be in two places at the same time or two people at the same time, and while everything may seem strange in daytime logic, it works in the dream and makes its own sense. This is very true of this production, not only in the movement between these two reality levels but also everything else. There’s a lot about it that’s strange, even exaggerated and absurd, and I can’t explain it all in an understandable way, but it was a very powerful and cathartic theatrical experience that made a lot of sense in its own strange way.
In the beginning the students draw sticks to determine who plays the adult roles (of course in reality they’re always the same actors), and those divide out the roles for the rest and give direction to the play by making sure the right actors are on stage doing the what they should. They become very deeply drawn into their roles and it kind of spins out of control, with the adult role players becoming drunk on their own power and becoming very demonic versions of the characters they play, insisting that the others go on in the darker and darker emotional torture the story is becoming for them. The young people actors one by one try to get away from the story but are prevented by the adult role players, and in the end the adults enthrall in inflicting horrible emotional torture on Moritz, Melchior and Wendla while the rest have gotten off the stage, before it’s all released in a cathartic end.
The actors playing the adults, Enikő Moravszki (Adult Women) and Balázs Angler (Adult Men) do their job terrifically, being very believable as young people who take on the most horrible aspects of adults and become transformed into something terrifying. My friend said the story reminded her of the so-called Stanford experiment where students were divided into prisoners and guards, but the experiment had to be interrupted when the guards got too into their roles and started truly enjoying inflicting more and more horrible torture on the prisoners. These two characters also have different approaches to this development: the Adult Women player is at first reluctant to accept the role of being the “bad adults” that is thrust on her, but early on she decides that she will accept it and be as cynical and cruel as she needs to be and also enjoy her power; and it is she who becomes the most horrible and demonic force during the play. The Adult Men seems to approach it at first more as a fun game to play that he doesn’t take too seriously, but gradually also becomes sucked into the power play and into the dark aspects of adults that he plays. At times he overdoes it even more than the Adult Women, but he also regrets his actions more visibly in the end.
I really liked all this, because of Balázs and Enikő’s wonderful performances and because of the new dimensions it gave to the story. The productions of the musical often run a risk of making too caricatured and harsh depictions of adults. But in this case it was fine to do this in an even more exaggerated way than usual, because it was clearly showing only the dark sides of adults as the young people see them, and as the young people will overdo them when they’re for once given the position of power. They were so demonic it was obvious they were not supposed to represent realistic adults but rather young people’s nightmare versions of them, sort of demonic forces which overtake people and make them be negative influence in others’ lives.
The school play aspect also comes through in all the characters being present on stage all the time, except near the end where the minor characters leave for some time. The characters are always following each others’ stories and commenting on them, and you can see their own stories evolving in others’ scenes, too. For example, Moritz is first as interested in the others’ goings-on as everyone else, and curious about Melchior and Wendla’s first encounters. But after he fails his exams and disappoints his father, you can see him drawing away from everyone else. Though he sings the songs with them, he’s standing or sitting apart, clearly wrapped in his own sorrows and giving his own meanings to the words rather than sharing the meanings of everyone else.
There are also developments for more minor characters: for example there is something of a romance that gradually develops between Anna and Thea, though it’s not alluded to in the words or made any special scene of. In the early scenes you can see Anna gazing at Thea with clear interest while Thea doesn’t notice, but especially after Moritz’s death when everyone is seeking consolation, they become closer in a new way, and while Hanschen and Ernst find each other so do Anna and Thea in the background. It’s not made any special notice of, and I don’t know how easily I’d have paid attention to it if I hadn’t noticed them sinking into a tender embrace during the Hanschen/Ernst scene the first time I saw the musical; but it nicely gives them both more depth and a story of their own.
Because everyone is present on stage all the time, this production doesn’t have any extra background singers but rather everyone else is providing the background, and often characters are also participating in scenes they’re not normally in. For example in the Mama who bore me reprise, while the girls are mainly singing the song, the boys are providing beatbox background, dancing and singing with them - which works, because it is about a problem that’s common for both sexes, not to mention that the musical arrangement of that song becomes totally awesome. Generally I loved the musical arrangements in this version, they worked really energetically.
Everyone is in modern clothes all the time because of the classroom play connection, though the story takes place in the past. There are no clothes changes for anyone; there’s also no nudity. Everything comes through clearly enough in the acting. Compared to the previous Hungarian production, a lot of the choreography (choreographed by Ákos Tihányi) is the same, but very little else is.
There are also some other elements of modernity besides the clothing, for example the porn magazines everyone seems to be reading, at least Melchior who also uses them to instruct the bewildered Moritz, and Hanschen who hilariously discovers a male porn magazine underneath the female one he first uses during his masturbation scene. In general the staging sometimes feels like the play has been read with as dirty-minded teenager mindset as possible and then put on stage that way: everything you can get something dirty and teenager-ish out of is done that way, whether it’s supposed to be that way or not. For example Melchior doesn’t read Faust, he reads the abovementioned porn magazines and pretends to his mother it’s Faust. While it sometimes got annoying because it removed some other dimensions I like, it still also works. Maybe especially because of the classroom play level - since the story is staged as today’s teenagers doing this musical in a way that makes sense to them, it’s done that way to the fullest, dirty humour and all. Besides, it isn’t only about the dirty humour. It’s perhaps used to lighten up the fact that in the end this musical goes really, really deep into the dark and difficult emotions of the story, deeper than I’ve seen any other version do, and also comes through with much more to think about and a much stronger catharsis.
The set design is extremely simple. There’s a small stage, with the back part of it higher than the rest and also including a small rising platform. The rising platform isn’t used nearly at the frequency it is in usual Operettszínház musicals, but only in places where it’s used in most other Spring Awakening productions: with Ilse and Martha singing their song, with Wendla and Melchior’s sex scene, and with Moritz’s suicide scene. The rest of the set pieces are: a bunch of chairs that the actors move around depending on the needs of the scene; and two metal pillars on the side of the stage, used for various purposes but in the second act mainly for chaining Moritz and later Wendla into them when they die.
Everyone being on stage all the time also applies after death. Dying is signified by tying the person with handcuffs and chaining them to one of the pillars on the side of the stage. This is done to Moritz, and later more violently (as she doesn’t want to die) to Wendla. Moritz keeps on observing the events on stage after his death, now partly with a detached, sarcastic amusement that mirrors the attitude of his ghost in the original Wedekind play. He even bursts into laughter in the middle of his own funeral ; he also sings and rocks along with the other kids in "Totally f**ked", which was a truly endearing sight. But when things start to get really bad for Melchior and Wendla, he begins to protest and even tries to get back on stage to interfere, though of course he can’t, being chained to the pillar.
The ending is really strange. First, during Melchior’s time in the correction institute, like in the previous Hungarian version it’s implied that the other boys rape Melchior in addition to otherwise torturing him. During this scene first the girls (except Wendla) and in the end the boys (except Melchior and Moritz) leave the stage, and this time the adults allow them to go. During the implied rape scene Moritz tries to leap on stage to help Melchior, but can’t. Wendla gets chained to the pillar by the Adult Woman to signify her dying of the abortion. Then the events become even stranger.
The adult characters say the lines normally belonging to Ilse and the girls to show that Melchior has fled and expects to meet Wendla, not knowing that she’s dead. The adult characters, while explaining to Melchior that Wendla is dead, tie him with handcuffs like them but don’t chain him into a pillar. Now he sees Moritz and Wendla, and they all begin to laugh hysterically. The adult characters also tie everyone’s eyes, and torment Moritz and Wendla, the Adult Male forcibly kissing and groping Wendla, the Adult Female teasing Moritz but not making direct sexual advances to him. Wendla and Moritz both visibly hate it, suffer and protest and want to get out of this crazy play, but cannot. The Adult Male tortures Melchior by relating to him all the awful things that have happened and his own dark thoughts with a mocking voice. Eventually the adult characters release Moritz and Wendla from the pillars and drag them forcibly to the forestage, leaving the two of them there to suffer while Melchior stays on the back part of the stage and begins to contemplate suicide with Moritz’s gun. This scene is so chaotic it’s hard to describe, but it’s emotionally extremely dark and intense, and I at least was crying along with the characters just from the sheer emotional power and intensely spiraling suffering of everyone.
Eventually Moritz begins the "Those You Know" song and Wendla joins him; they plead Melchior not to commit suicide while he, crushed and broken, still seriously contemplates it. He throws the gun away in the end, probably to signify that he doesn’t choose death. But it’s otherwise a bit unclear, because he, Moritz and Wendla are all in a similar position during the song, he is handcuffed and blindfolded like them and they’re no longer chained to the pillars. And in the end while "Song of Purple Summer" begins and Ilse gets on stage, she releases Melchior, but then she also releases Moritz and Wendla, so even this isn’t really a sign of Melchior staying alive. As all the characters come on stage to join the song, the way they move and interact signifies that Moritz and Wendla are still staying in the world of death, sharing their fate with each other in sympathy while saying goodbye to those in the world they’ve left behind. Even if the preceding events have been surreal and a bit unclear, it’s a powerfully cathartic end. At the same time you can see the Adult Male especially regretting his actions; with the Adult Female, who also in the beginning chose her demonic role more consciously, it’s less clear if she regrets or not, but at least she doesn’t try to do anything anymore either, as her role in the story is over.
I’m not sure how well I understand the ending, but I’m clearly not the only one. After every show they organize a discussion between those members of the audience who want to stay, and someone from the directing theme and some actors. We stayed for one of these, where the assistant director and two actors were. The assistant director asked everyone if anyone understood the ending, and nobody dared to admit to understanding it. Then she began to talk about it and it seemed even she could not give a conclusive answer about everything in it, though she had some interpretations to offer. I do hope someone somewhere has thought about the ending thoroughly and sees meaning to everything, because it would be annoying if it were that way just for the purpose of weirding out everyone. But I do trust that the director himself as definite ideas about why everything is the way it is, and perhaps just hasn’t been able to communicate them in a way that would be easy to describe. Because I feel that way about it, too: I can’t explain it, I don’t know if I’ve understood it in the way that it should be understood, but on some unspoken emotional level it works extremely well for me. I just can’t for the life of me explain why, or what I think about some of the symbolism in it. Again, I guess it’s like a dream: some powerful dream symbols - or some metaphors in poetry - make sense in a mysterious emotional and psychological level, without you ever being able to explain in words how and why.
This isn’t any closer to the previous Hungarian production than it is to other productions of the musical. In some ways it is closer to the original Wedekind play than any other version, even if the modernity connection makes some things very different. But the play, I feel, has a lot of that dreamlikeness and strangeness, and I love that this production has more of its twisted humour and macabre quality, for example in Moritz’s ghost’s presence on the stage after his death and his reactions to everything, including his own funeral. Many of the characterizations are also closer to the original, or in other ways work better than they do in other versions, at least in my opinion.
This is also definitely nothing like a normal Operettszínház musical. I’m beginning to have more and more respect for the director Szilárd Somogyi: he’s able to direct interesting musicals that are not copies of the usual Operettszínház gimmicks, though this one is definitely the most different thing he has ever done there. Even if the direction is sometimes so strange I don’t understand it, it’s incredibly powerful and I hope this version will stay in the repertoire after the summer break, so that I can see it more times. Now that I know what to expect, I think there’s still much more to get out of seeing it.
I understand now why I couldn’t find any detailed descriptions of this production beforehand: it really is hard to describe, and I don’t know if I’ve been able to do it understandably, either. I can also see why it has really divided opinions among theatregoers. It’s extremely strange and may require more than one viewing to start understanding it and appreciating everything that’s good about it. And it’s certainly so unusual and experimental that I don’t wonder it’s not to everyone’s taste. While I loved it, I can see it not working for everyone. To be honest, if I’d only read a detailed description of it beforehand, I’m not sure if I would have expected to like it so much, because I’m not usually into so strange and experimental theatre. But this one somehow worked with its amazing intensity and emotional power, and with its quirky, dreamlike weirdness that appeals more to me than I could have known. And while previously I thought the old Hungarian production was the best production of this musical, after digesting this one for a while I’m beginning to feel it is actually my favourite. It just gets so amazingly much out of the story, telling the story of the play but without sticking only to the obvious ways of doing it and the obvious meanings. I would love to do a scene-by-scene description where I would tell everything this did differently from other versions and how it worked, and what I loved and didn’t love; but I’m not sure such a detailed telling would interest many people, so I will refrain from it.
Cast and characters
I didn’t feel it was possible to describe the characters and the actors before I’ve described the way the production is done. I already earlier described the adult characters and praised their actors, Enikő Moravszki and Balázs Angler. They carry the piece much more than in usual productions, and both of the actors did the most fantastically in portraying those young people who take on the vilest characteristics of adults. Though they sing a bit more than usual - "All That’s Known" has become a duet between Melchior and the Adult Man, and both adult characters sometimes sing along with the young in the group scenes - I didn’t get to hear their voices much, though from the previous production I remember them both being good singers (Enikő played Martha, and Balázs played Melchior). I would love to see them get roles in other musicals as well; though this goes for some other actors, too, the cast was overall excellent. Only their youth reminded me of them all being students as they were quite skilled already, and they were all extremely well cast in their roles.
Wendla - Vera Fekete-Kovács.
I liked the way Wendla was done here. Usually the character is a little hard to relate to in her extreme innocence, but here because of the show being done as a classroom play by modern pupils, she felt a bit more modern. While it was still possible to understand that in the context of the story she wouldn’t know where babies came from, she seemed to have a lot going on in her head and had a lot of personality and spine. She definitely didn’t seem weak or stupid, which can sometimes be a danger in this role. She seemed like a nice, intelligent girl, someone I could relate to and would have liked to be friends with at school.
Vera did great in this role. She is very expressive and convinced me with her intense and emotion-filled acting. Her voice is really good, too, nice in sound with lots of power, and she can use it well to express emotion. She’s pretty and has lots of personality in her looks, and her features are clear and her eyes large and dark, making her facial expressions very noticeable (though that theatre is so small you see everyone very well all the time, anyway). I’d love to see her get more roles in future.
Melchior - Dénes Kocsis.
Somehow I don’t have a lot to say about him. He did fine; he has a good voice, he can act, he looks nice. I can’t say there’s anything wrong with him, yet I wasn’t at all interested in him. Partly it may just be because I’m not as interested in Melchior as I am in e.g. Moritz or Wendla, and now also the adult characters were far more interesting. And I think they had made Melchior more ordinary than usual on purpose; I already mentioned that he reads porn magazines rather than Faust, and he generally seemed to be directed as being a rather ordinary guy, not as having some shine of specialness. But I do feel there was also something lackluster about Dénes, though I can’t point out what. Maybe he has enough charisma for a small role like Georg (where I liked him last year) but not a big role like this one; maybe his acting, while superficially fine, lacked depth and detail; or maybe he’s just not the type that I’m interested to watch for a long time. Either way, after establishing on the first time what he was like, I paid very little attention to him in the rest of the shows and was happier following everyone else more. He seems to have quite a lot of fans among those girls who’ve seen the show, and I can sort of understand that, he is the type, but he lacked any spark for me.
Moritz - György (Gyuri) Mihálka
Being one of my favourite actors already from Vámpírok Bálja (where he’s one of the best Alfreds ever), he was of course the reason why I was particularly keen to see this show, and he was also my favourite thing about it. It was interesting to see him in another role than Alfred, and one that had been directed in such a different way. At first I felt surprised by the overacting of the first few scenes: Moritz’s strangeness and silliness in the beginning is over-emphasized rather excessively, with exaggerated laughs and voice tones that didn’t always fit the scenes. I soon concluded that this was not a fault in Gyuri’s acting but rather the director’s choice, though, as it became evident that there was such exaggeration with other characters in other scenes, too; and once Moritz’s story started to progress, there definitely was no overacting from Gyuri’s part. As soon as his story begins to take a more serious turn - around Touch Me and even more from when he fails his exams - his acting is very beautiful, deep and strong and intense, with a great deal of emotion and not a trace of overacting. He acts it extremely convincingly, down to often being in tears himself during his scenes. He made the viewer also experience Moritz’s sad story deeply, and made me cry along with him.
Moritz has been my favourite character ever since I got to know this musical. And Gyuri is my favourite Moritz now; while previously it was Dávid Pirgel from the previous Budapest production, I loved Gyuri even more. With his great intensity, quirkiness and sensitivity he is the closest to the Moritz in my head, capturing him in a way nobody ever has yet, and with such emotional power. I think this production generally tries to bring Moritz closer to the original Wedekind play, by not ignoring the humorous and tragicomical sides, and by having his ghost stay around commenting on the events with sarcastic amusement, but not forgetting his affection for Melchior. At times Moritz also seems a bit mad, not just depressed.
I think the exaggeration of the acting in the first scenes must have been partly to bring across the comical and silly side of the character, and also perhaps, because in the play almost everyone thinks Moritz a weirdo, the director wanted us to see him that way at first and only then begin to see that there’s a real tragedy going on with him. A part of it may also have been to emphasize the classroom play aspect, by having the actor overact before starting to get into the role. It was interesting once I got used to it, but I still wish there had been a bit less of that, because I’d have liked to see how Gyuri would have acted those scenes in a more natural manner, and because I fear that less experienced viewers may think he can’t act, at least not comic scenes - you would have to be blind and deaf not to see that he can act tragic scenes...
Another reason why Gyuri’s Moritz was particularly good for me: I feel especially in the original play that Moritz doesn’t only commit suicide because he’s depressed but also because he has an original, quirky way of thinking that leads him into this result; and Gyuri portrayed this aspect of him better than anyone. And he’s just made to play emotionally fragile characters who’ve nevertheless got force of personality, with his pretty but unique looks, his slender physique, and his great voice.
I was curious about how he would sound in this musical which is quite different in music style from Tanz der Vampire where he can let out his quasi-classical singing voice awesomely in Alfred’s big solo etc. Here he didn’t have so many chances to do that kind of thing, and had to sing a bit less classically, but he still sounded great in a way that worked with this pop/rock music but was still distinctly his own singing style. And when he could let his voice soar, oh, it sounded gorgeous. He’s also great at putting emotion into his voice and varying the strength of his voice depending on the emotional needs of the scene. His voice has enough of an unusual sound that I think it fits a character like Moritz really well; he should sound unique, and Gyuri’s voice has both sensitivity and strength, just like it should. And I appreciate his ability to sing so fantastically while crying.
Even though the kids in this production generally had good voices, Gyuri could often be heard over the others in the group singing scenes. Perhaps it’s also because of the unique colour of his voice and because he’s often given the highest or otherwise distinctive part to sing.
I thought I would be annoyed with giving him the messy hair that stands up, because I dislike it in other productions and last year I was so glad they didn’t give Moritz that in the previous production. But in this production they did; however, it worked totally fine, partly because they’re in modern clothes anyway so it looks okay there, and partly because that hairstyle looks better on Gyuri than it does on most people. His facial features go better with it. They also did it in a more natural way than in the other productions.
Ilse - Nóra Réder
I love how they did Ilse here. I haven’t been quite happy with her in any other version; in the usual version they seem to make her a bit too neat and some kind of a saving angel, glossing over the nasty situation in life she’s in now to present her as simply the hope for the future; and in the previous Budapest production she was too psychotic and weird. Here she was just right, a girl who’s had a lot of rough times and is not emotionally well, but who still represents the ability to somehow keep on going on and finding hope and joy despite everything. There are some indications that she has to resort to prostitution now, or at least a situation that’s close to prostitution.
Nóra was perfect for the part, she’s just the type I imagine Ilse to be, she looks right, and her strong, warm voice is just the kind of voice Ilse should have. She sounds lovely and emotional, and can sing strongly without shouting. Her Ilse has guts and emotion, she suffers but keeps on finding strength and interest in life. I don’t know if I could ask for a better actress for this part. And I’m sure that when Nóra gets more experience, she will also be good in many other roles in other musicals, and I hope she will get them.
Oh, and I liked how the Moritz/Ilse scene was done. In the usual production I hate it how they just stand next to each other and don’t even seem to talk to each other. In the previous Budapest version I felt it went a bit too far in the other direction, making them grope each other so intensely it wasn’t really necessary. This one was somewhere in between, with interaction and touching between them, but not so gropey and obviously sexual, more like two lost young people who are fumblingly looking for some comfort from another human being but don’t even know what they want, especially Moritz. It felt just right.
Martha - Boglárka Simon
Another whom I particularly liked. Her acting was touching, sweet and emotion-filled, she looked and felt so sensitive and fragile that it was awful to think of someone like her going through what she did, but she still had a spine, too. She’s very small with huge eyes and soft features which made her expressions noticeable and her character even sadder. Her voice is maybe not the best, but it suits Martha’s song all right.
I also liked that, as Martha is the girl who says she likes Moritz while everyone else goes on about Melchior, they had picked up on that and emphasized it here. There’s a lot of (mostly wordless) interaction between Martha and Moritz where you can sense that she really cares a lot about him and he also likes her, only they’re both too shy and confused to ever really approach each other except in fantasies. It made both of their stories even more touching, and Boglárka and Gyuri worked really well together and acted sweetly.
Hanschen - Balázs Gulyás(/Dávid Pirgel) and Ernst - Szilárd Zadóri
Hanschen is one of my favourite characters besides Moritz, and I was really happy with how they had done him here. I don’t like it that in most productions he’s turned into a slimy, creepy seducer who corrupts the gullible little Ernst. I was already happy with the Finnish version who was genuinely likeable and non-slimy. But this was even more sympathetic, as Balázs’s Hanschen was really just as clueless as Ernst. He was maybe just more eager and conscious about exploring his sexuality, but when it came to actually doing something he scarcely knew more than Ernst what he was doing, and it was very sweet and adorable fumbly experimenting with genuine affection from both sides. Their interest in each other comes through in lots of cute ways throughout the story, and is presented as sweet and endearing rather than as something creepy.
When they have to do their love scene together, the classroom play level clearly comes through. The boys are reluctant and nervous to do the scene in front of everyone else, though you can also sense that they kind of like doing it and are attracted to each other. It seems like both Hanschen and Ernst, and the actors playing them on the classroom-play level (I’m not saying anything about the real actors!) are attracted to each other but confused about admitting it. It was adorable on so many levels. The choreography is more touchy-feely than in most versions, though less than in the previous Budapest version, but the kissing is very tentative, which suits the dynamic between them.
Generally, Balázs plays his Hanschen with lots of personality, he’s likeable and funny, I liked him very much. In one of the performances he had somewhere else to be, and instead he had Dávid Pirgel, who is the only one who is not a PBS student, and who doesn’t normally play this role - he’s only done it a few times as an emergency cover, and as far as I know he didn’t participate in the rehearsal period. In my opinion you could see this in his acting. He wasn’t bad, I just didn’t really feel his interpretation fitted this version of the musical, and it didn’t feel very well developed. It was closer to the usual confident seducer Hanschens of other productions, and sure, he did more intense kissing and touching which can be nice, but I preferred Balázs’s version because he had more layers to his acting and made me more interested in the character. Dávid’s version of the Hanschen/Ernst scene also lacked that intermingling and interaction between the classroom play level and the story level, it was very straightforward, and he didn’t have the sweet uncertainty that I adored in Balázs’s version. Overall Balázs fit this production better, also in the ensemble scenes I felt that Dávid somehow wasn’t part of this production’s emotional state and atmosphere. Of course it’s not his fault as he hasn’t had so much time to practice with them, and maybe some people still prefer his approach to the character, but for me Balázs’s version works better. Balázs’s voice is also stronger.
Szilárd Zadóri played an adorable Ernst. He’s very sweet, funny and enthusiastic and generally Ernst-like, a bit clueless and innocent, but I liked it that he wasn’t spineless and was still totally a boy, even if dressed in pinkish-purple flower t-shirt - well, Ernst seems like a hippie type. His voice is really good, one of the strongest and nicest among the boys. I’d really like to see him do more and bigger roles some time, I’d be interested to see what he can do.
Georg - Krisztián Heisz
There’s not a lot to say Krisztián about this character, though he has a bit more going on than Ottó, with his piano teacher stuff. Krisztián is totally new, I think, and this seems to be his first role, so maybe that’s also why I don’t find a lot to say about him. He did fine and was competent, he was funny when he needed to be and fit the role, but I don’t find anything more remarkable to say. His voice is not the best, but it was okay and may become better with time.
Otto - Szabolcs Kádár
Otto has even less going on than Georg, though in this production they were making him the know-it-all of the class more strongly than usual, so that gave him some extra personality. Szabolcs did fine in this role, and he has an expressive face and a nice voice, but it’s hard to say more than that about him. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in some other role to see more of what he can do, I felt positively enough about him.
Anna - Tünde Kiss
I remember she annoyed me in the last production, I hated her voice which was kind of nasal and bleaty, and there was something about her attitude I didn’t like. Here they’d made her work better, because they had made that attitude and voice work with the character, turning Anna into a kind of a future-lawyer-girl who plays around with the guys because she doesn’t care about them - her affections are obviously fixed on Thea (well, obviously if you notice that storyline, as it happens on the background), not on any boys. And Tünde’s voice had gotten a bit better, though I still wouldn’t be overtly thrilled to hear her sing an entire song alone. But I basically liked her in this one, and the direction gave the character a lot more personality than usual.
Thea - Anna Török
In the Thea/Anna romance Thea is the one who’s mostly oblivious to Anna’s interest and keeps squeeing about Melchior instead. So she comes across as a bit silly and shallow but essentially well-meaning girly girl. She played the part well enough and has a promising voice, and looks cute. It’s hard to say more than that.
Well, that’s all. I don’t know if I’ve been very successful at describing this production, but hopefully I’ve been able to give some idea of it. I’ve tried to be as factual as it’s possible in this case, while also giving my own opinion, but it’s probably impossible to describe this one objectively. So much of the way it’s directed and staged requires your own interpretation, imagination and emotional response to make sense at all, and I’m not sure everything is supposed to make sense. So what I describe is my own interpretation of what I’ve seen, and someone else could interpret some things quite differently.
When I first saw this version, I was rather "WTF" even if I liked many things about it. After digesting it and seeing it more times, I began to love it. It hasn’t really left me since, it keeps disturbing me and asking for more thought and explanation. I love that. It’s not the easiest show to see and understand, and I’m sure it’s not for everyone. And by this I don’t mean anything snobby; it’s just weird and unusual enough that I can see it not working for everyone. Also people who are attached to a particular version of Spring Awakening may have trouble if they’re not prepared to encounter something completely different and open their minds to it without expecting the version they already know and love.
But I love this, and if at all possible I would like to see it again because I’m sure I’ll get a lot more out of it when I know what to expect. I love that it’s not easy to understand or describe and that it keeps troubling me. Sure, entertaining fluff is good to have in life; but what I love the best in theatre as well as everything else is something that can also make me think and wonder and ask questions, and look at things in a different way, and stays with me and affects me. And something that can’t be summed up in a few easy catchphrases and pop culture tropes. Because I like it when someone can make something original and inventive instead of repeating everything that we are used to, and whatever else may be said about this production, they’ve certainly managed to do that.
