The hot, hot Pleasance theatre (why were the fans off?!) led people to fan themselves but they would have had to cool themselves down anyway.
Recently revived on Broadway (and the West End where it was pushed off through lack of interest), the raunchy content of play which simulated fellatio featured more times than necessary is not for the faint of heart. The brill talent of young performers, all of whom looked twenty, gained them a standing ovation, and most of them have a great future in musical theatre lying ahead, though some of their guitar-riff moves looked stylised. The best way to describe it to a newcomer is that some young people have an awakening in spring (a metaphor for the advancing sexual mores of the twentieth century which broke previous taboos) which comes off as Romeo & Juliet cross-pollinated with Rent.
The actors’ delivery is top notch, their acting great, their singing 99% there. The play was abbreviated to ninety minutes, which felt condensed but remained a great advertisement to see proper SA. It’s almost, almost flawless in this form, and all should be proud. Yet for ages 14+?! we wondered. This remains a show that everyone should see when they reach a certain age. A love story with added kraut – I mean, clout.
