Naked buttocks, an exposed nipple and song-and-dance numbers about wet dreams aren't quite what one expects from a play set in 1890.
But that's exactly what makes Spring Awakening, which started its brief Toronto stint at the Canon Theatre last week, a play unlike most others to hit the city's major theatres.
Set in Germany in a time of sexual repression, the musical follows a group of teenagers as they learn about unplanned pregnancy, abortion, incest and every other coming-of-age issue that could be squeezed into two hormone-charged hours.
The show -- which includes live depictions of sex and masturbation -- seeks to shock and it achieves the goal. There's even a dance number where cast members rhythmically give the audience the middle finger.
Actress Steffi DiDomenicantonio, the only Canadian cast member in the touring show, says audience members have walked out of the theatre mid-show in several cities -- but that has yet to happen in Toronto.
"Sometimes they can only take it until My Junk, which is where the masturbation starts," DiDomenicantonio, who goes by Steffi D, told CP24.com. "It happened a lot in the States but here we haven't seen it yet."
And even if people do walk out, it's probably because the story has touched a nerve, she says.
"As actors, all of us like pushing the buttons a little bit. It's a good feeling to know that you're getting a reaction."
While American audiences may be the latest to be put off by the play's frank depictions of taboo topics, they're part of a long line of those who have been less than comfortable with the play's material.
Spring Awakening was written in 1891 and has been repeatedly censored throughout that last century, earning author Frank Wedekind a reputation for being a subversive influence - much like the musical's main character, Melchior Gabor.
The role of Melchior was previously played by Canadian singer Kyle Riabko, who has since left to film a pilot in Los Angeles.
On Friday, the part was convincingly played by Long Island native Perry Sherman, who can be seen on YouTube exclaiming his love for a notably uncontroversial hobby - knitting.
DiDomenicantonio -- a former Canadian Idol finalist -- plays the part of Ilse, a young woman forced to leave her home for an artist colony due to abuse.
The George Brown College theatre student says she had dreamed of being in the play since seeing it with her mother years ago, and was ecstatic when an open casting call was held in Toronto.
The 19-year-old says spending so much time on the road with a cast of young people can sometimes feel like the life full of drama and teen angst expressed in the play.
"It's really, really accurate. It's a hormonally challenged group of people because we're all so young," she says.
After working in reality television, children's programming and talk radio, DiDomenicantonio says it's a refreshing change to be confronting issues that normally get swept under the rug in mainstream entertainment.
"It's so interesting to me because it's a period play written in the late 1800s but nothing has really changed," she says. "No matter how much it pushes buttons, I am so proud and behind it 10 million per cent."
Spring Awakening is on stage at Toronto's Canon Theatre until April 19.
