Making sweet contact: Contact Theatre brings Spring Awakening back in JunE
By Darragh Kilkenny-Mondoux
Vocals for Ilse performed by Sos Gill (Sos played Ilse in GTC's "Spring Awakening" in November 2018).
Vocals recorded, vocals edited, and backing track edited in Audacity by Kristen Ryan.
Lyric video created in Windows Movie Maker by Kristen Ryan.
Returning to the Monument National Theatre once again since their 2021 production of Next to Normal, Contact Theatre is preparing to stage Spring Awakening with an unexpected twist in time. This company prides themselves on tackling provocative shows and intense subject matter in a unique way, and this summertime production promises to do just that.
We spoke to co-founders Ally Brumer, Executive Director and Producer for Contact Theatre, and Debora Friedmann, Artistic Director and director/choreographer for Spring Awakening about the vision for the coming-of-age classic. The story is based on a late 19th century play of the same name (Frühlings Erwachen ursprünglich auf Deutsch). The company founders say the themes of isolation contrasted with community drew them to this piece, “the inevitable teenage pain of craving connection while not fitting within the confines of a strict and unyielding society.” But rather than setting their stage in the constricting context of the past, they’ve opted to set their scene in a not-too-distant, and not too unlikely future.
Brumer explains that current headlines of setbacks to reproductive rights, sex education and a climate of fearful censorship in North America inspired this approach to the text. “Access to information, rather a lack of access, really informed our instinct to set it not in 1800s Germany but rather a future society where our rights are rolled back,” she says. “If you think about it, it’s not unimaginable given today’s political and societal climate.”
“I think it’s interesting how this show cycles around and comes back again – especially when something political is happening that it can respond to, and no two productions are alike,” says Friedmann, citing inspirations for this vision like Station Eleven and The Handmaid’s Tale.
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Santiago Montejo as Ott (left) and Julie D’Entremont as Martha (right)
Questions guiding the exploration of gender and sexuality and societal fear around sharing that information are answered playfully in works like Spring Awakening, both within the text as well as through the design that Contact Theatre’s production team is putting together. This will be the first production the company performs fully in the round, taking advantage of the versatility of the Studio Hydro-Quebec at the Monument National. The moods of isolation contrasted with that of collective identity will be expressed through lights, designed by META-nominated designer Chris Wardell. The set, designed by Emily Fennel will incorporate books in the environment, the props and the movement as symbols of knowledge.
On the design team and in the cast, audiences will recognize some returning faces from the impressive body of work that Contact Theatre has mounted throughout the years. Friedmann says Spring Awakening enjoys the benefits of a near-perfect 50-50 split between first-timers and returning stars. “We’ve built a really tight family at Contact, and we get to work with a lot of the same designers and actors from each show,” so familiarity has bred brisk yet efficient communication among friends in a company striving to elevate itself to ever higher standards of professional output. David Marino, proudly billed as an alumnus of Canada’s The Voice, is playing Melchior, and Éloïse Lagacé is playing Wendla in her first Contact Theatre production as well.
David Marino as Melchior (left) and Éloïse Lagacé as Wendla
Running June 8th to the 15th, Spring Awakening will surely springboard theatre fans into a summer full of shows with high expectations and an excitement for emerging artists. As the anticipation builds, the two co-founders shared their favourite songs off the soundtrack;
The cast of Spring Awakening
“At the beginning of this process my favourite song was “Touch Me” but “Left Behind” has been creeping up in my favourites,” says Brumer. Friedmann adds “One of my favourites is “Don’t Do Sadness” alongside “Blue Wind”, those are layered over each other. And “Totally Fucked” is always a crowd favourite.”