This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
ED2013 4/5 Reviews ED2013 Theatre Reviews
Rites – A Children’s Tragedy (Young Pleasance)
By Natalia Equihua | Published on Thursday 8 August 2013
In an idealised countryside town set in the seventeenth century, the apparent peace is suddenly disrupted. As Wendla turns 14, she innocently asks her mother where babies come from, and the response is evasive. What follows is the story of Wendla and her peers, attempting to overcome the anguish and confusion of dealing with their own sexual development. This adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s ‘Spring Awakening’ conveys the power and desperation that got the original play censured in 1917, and although it’s been turned into a one-act play, this version is still a strong portrayal and criticism of a society that chose to ignore adolescence. All in all, Young Pleasance gives a powerful and engaging performance that undoubtedly pays homage to this jewel of classical theatre.
Pleasance Courtyard, until 17 Aug, 1.20pm.
tw rating 4 / 5 | [Natalia Equihua]