Desteptarea primaverii, Teatrul Mic, 30.10.2018

I was a bit on the fence about doing this review, because it relates to a theatre play and not an actual concert. But after giving it further thought, I realised that I mostly treated it like a Firma concert and it was a wonderful experience that had a deep impact over me, so in it goes. 

Desteptarea primaverii (Spring awakening) is a rather well known theatre play by Frank Wedekind, it’s been turned into a successful musical on Broadway and it’s currently being played at the National Theatre in Bucharest in a different version. But seeing how I’m not exactly the most theatre-passioned person in the world, I didn’t know much about it and the sole reason I went to see it was because my beloved Firma wrote the soundtrack and performed it live during the play. Hence the “Firma concert” vision over it. And for the first part, that’s exactly what it was for me, an admittedly unconventional play, about silly teenagers doing silly teenagery things, and the only thing that brought it out of the anonymity was the beautiful soundtrack. 

This is where I pause to talk about the band, because I might not get another chance and because ultimately they were the ones that brought me to the show. Judging by the wild applause and cheers that Firma got at the end of the play (especially compared to the timid polite claps the actors received), I’d say they were the ones that brought everyone there. The music Rocca wrote for this was perfect. In line with their older releases, but so much more gut-wrenching and emotionally loaded, it not only accompanied the story so well, but it brought it to life and enhanced it in a very special way and Rocca delivered a performance so powerful and haunting that I simply couldn’t take my eyes off him. I had to constantly remind myself when he was singing that I should be watching the actors if I didn’t want to miss out on the story, but then he’d bring out one of those harrowing notes and I was mesmerised again. 

Despite that, as time went by and we delved more into the tale, I realised there’s so much more to Desteptarea primaverii than Firma and a wonderful soundtrack. In the blink of an eye, the laughter and nativity of the main characters were replaced by death and a darkness and tragedy that I think most of us weren’t expecting. The stage was set in the middle of the theatre, so I could see the spectators on the other side and their faces were the same as mine: at first surprised, then grave and finally in tears. I won’t give any spoilers as to what actually happens, but it’s a very tragic and touching tale, that deals with themes that are all to present in our society.

I read many reviews that said it might seem like an outdated concept to have teenagers not know how babies are made, but I think those reviewers have a too rosy world in their head. Personally I find it shockingly current, and I say shockingly because it’s a play written almost 150 years ago. Granted, it was a bit ahead of its time when Wedekind created it, but it’s still more than a century old. How much can the world stand still and refuse progress if the alarm signals he raised so long ago are still as alarming today? We have a country where so many adults fight to keep sexual education out of schools and prefer to think their teenagers will practise abstinence instead of using sexual protection, with the highest rate of abortions in Europe, where women (not teenagers, women) are still confused as to how they got pregnant because they believe all sorts of myths like “the first time doesn’t count” and other aberrations, we just had a referendum that strived to put the nail in the coffin of same-sex marriages and the suicide rate among teenagers is one of the highest in Europe. So much for outdated themes. And yes, Desteptarea primaverii deals with all that: homosexuality, suicide, abortion, rape, depression, bullying. It also has male and female nudity, a masturbation scene and two men kissing, it’s definitely not a play for those who blush easily. And ironically, it’s exactly those people who should be watching, because it’s a tale of what happens when we refuse to realise children are growing and understand that all the curiosities and impulses they are fighting need to be answered and accepted for the sake of turning them into healthy stable adults. 

It was a very moving spectacle and it left me thinking about it for days to come (I guess that’s why it took me so long to write this, it was hard to get my thoughts in order). Not only because of the topics it hit, but mostly because of the way it did so. Despite of how controversial the list above sounded, the truth is that all those moments were integrated in the play in such a natural and unpretentious way that they didn’t bother and they didn’t seem to be a “look at how edgy I am” scream for attention. They just… were. Realities of life, actions that generated reactions, things that made the kids believable and explained why they were a certain way or did a certain thing. Despite of their flaws, the characters were endearing, I cared about them and their pain hit me. The performances were raw and touching and to have the most dramatic moments replace acting and words with the music delivered live by Firma made the experience even more intense and turmoiling.