andrea Ling

Set & Costume Design Lu Herbert
Video Design Daniel Hughes
Sound Design Nova Sound
Lighting Design Kai Fischer
Assistant Director Emery Hunter

Intimacy Co-ordinator Sharon Mackay
Movement Support Ruxy Cantir
Fight Director Rob Myles
Voice Support Mel Drake

BSL Consultants Rita McDade & Amy Helena

Production Manager Gavin Johnston

Performed by RCS’ BA Acting in British Sign Language and English, with captions.   

Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Spring Awakening propels Frank Wedekind’s riot-triggering 19th-century text into the digital age, where the internet shape their coming-of-age experiences in ways he could never have imagined. Our production takes this even further, exploring how technology, that is in the palm of your hand, amplifies the struggles, desires, and isolation of adolescence.

From its inception, Spring Awakening has been censored—banned in early 20th-century Germany, threatened with closure in the U.S. in 1917, and still sparking controversy well into the 2000s. But its themes—sexuality, queerness, rape, and suicide—remain just as contentious today. Conversations about adolescence, sex, and identity are increasingly fraught, as political and cultural forces seek to suppress or distort them.

In an age where right-wing rhetoric, online echo chambers, and the rise of the manosphere shape perceptions of relationships and power, teenagers are at risk of absorbing a skewed, often dangerous version of reality. We’re facing not just censorship, but an epidemic of misinformation. Adolescence is a beautiful yet difficult time, made more complex by the internet, where the line between truth and fiction is increasingly blurred.

Reiss’ version fearlessly confronts these issues, and crucially, it does so on the teenagers’ terms. Here, they are the auteurs—they drive the storytelling. Our production has been a deeply collaborative process between cast and creatives, ensuring an integrated vision that is both ambitious and urgent. Spring Awakening remains as vital as ever.