THE ATENEO BLUE REPERTY’S SPRING AWAKENING REVIEW

Ateneo Blue Repertory’s SPRING AWAKENING, is a very brave and honest masterpiece that echoes the message  about reality of life as a teenager. It shakes the barriers of the culture and the practices that we used to have as a nation, as an institution, as a religion and as a family. It sends a strong message to the adult people or the elderly that they must open their mind about what the young ones has to ask and say. It liberated us from holding on to the conservative practices and to be more practical in decision making and our relationship with our family and other institutions. It addresses the vanity of the pressure that the elder people used to put to the young ones. The vanity that has been created throughout the centuries which is not healthy for the well-being and development of an individual; and sometimes leads to suicide of a young individual. 

SPRING AWAKENING is an eye opening special to the parents that guidance is what was needed and not blaming the the young ones who committed mistakes and failure in life. It reminds everyone that as an adult everyone’s
 duty is to guide the lost ones and not blame them on whatever they have done. It doesn’t say to tolerate or cultivate the culture of failure, but rather to cultivate understanding and love. As an adult, everyone is responsible to communicate well to the young ones. The existence of gaps among all of us won’t be fixed until we initiate to speak and communicate. Communication is always a two way process and being a parent doesn’t mean that you have to dictate everything you want for your child/children. Communication must be straight forward specially now that the generation is getting smarter. 

Moving on to the artistic part of the play, the utilization or the stage was well done. The aesthetics of the stage was perfect for the period of the play. The neo-gothic design also denotes to the part of the school and the church 
towards developing an individual and its contributions to everyone’s life. The costumes design took its audience to the period where the piece was made. Ejay Yatco’s sound and musical arrangements were all perfectly textured and gave more life to every song number. The choices of music was well balanced and quite different each time. 

Direction wise, it could be challenging to stage such a brave and straight forward stage play to a catholic institution, but Missy Maramara’s direction revolutionized against the conservative mindset that our society have. This must be her own way to respond to the known issues of depression and suicide among the young people. Her heart tells us that we are never alone, that we just like anyone else we have the similar stories. Her advocacy and ownership to address the situation is quite empowering that even the adults can feel. Her intention was well delivered and her vision was clear. Every scenes has been made carefully that you won’t feel anything bad about anything on stage, because it highlights the organic behaviour of a human. The play was made to communicate rather than to entertain its audience. It wants you understand more about the reality that’s happening around you. 

Undoubtedly, every actors did a great job. All of them performed well, but the one who caught not just my ears, but also my awareness and my soul was Juancho Gabriel. He performed more than a hundred percent that his soul speaks to the audience. He gave justice to the character and the depth of his artistry was exceptional. He gave me chills every time he sing his songs. His passion and conviction in delivering his lines was very remarkable. To the batch of Ateneo Blue Repertory’s SPRING AWAKENING 2019, bravo and congrats for the job well done! We are looking forward to see more of this meaningful and extraordinary performances. Thank you for allowing us to experience this. 

Review by JC Salud