So, after a lot of waiting, memorizing the words to most of the songs, and parking my butt in Barnes & Noble for a day and reading the script, I finally got to see Spring Awakening. It was amazing.
The rock-musical musical is based off of a controversial German play written by Frank Wedekind in 1891. The music was done by Steven Slater and Duncan Sheik, and the Broadway Original Cast featured Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff as the leads, who are both characters on Glee (Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James). While slightly inappropriate, the music and story conveys a very strong point - which I'll get to.
While seeing this, and even before, I was struck by how much the plot resembled what would have happened if the debate of the Textbook Wars would have gone the other way. The story is focused on teenagers who are discovering their sexuality, a subject which is extremely suppressed by all adults.
Their education is so incomplete on this subject that the opening song and its reprise (Mama Who Bore Me) depicts the lead female, Wendla (Michelle), followed by the rest of the girls, expressing their desire to know where babies come from. The boys aren't doing so well either with their sexual identity (The B**** of Living). Melchior (Groff) seems to be the leader of the boys, and helps another boy, Moritz... well... discover himself. Both groups struggle to express their feelings towards the opposite gender (My Junk).
As the play continues, the two lead characters, Wendla and Melchior, have sex together (I Believe, The Guilty Ones), and unknowing of the consequences, Wendla becomes pregnant. Later, she dies in an abortion attempt, done very shadily and forced by her mother (Whispering). Wendla appeals to reason, explaining how she loves Melchior and didn't know how pregnancy happened because she was never told.
Another recurring theme in Spring Awakening is the idea of questioning authority. The adults in this play are all very strict. They discourage individualism, and try to beat them back into the pack (All That's Known, Totally F*****). They're all almost the same character themselves and they're even played by the same three actors. The adults are even oppressive, leading to the sexual abuse of two characters by their fathers (The Dark I Know Well). Moritz fails an exam, and his father kicks him out of his house. When failing to get money to travel to America (And Then There Were None), he eventually commits suicide (Don't Do Sadness).
Well. That's depressing. Despite the very helplessness of the story, the characters still find hope in each other (Those You've Known). It ends on a bittersweet note with a very hopeful song (The Song of Purple Summer).
The themes of this play shows the opposite of the American ideal of Freedom of Speech. It presents an example of a society that is very distorted by the lack of this freedom. I'd also like to note that it was banned in Germany for quite a while because of its controversial material, such as the portrayal of suicide, sex, child abuse, homosexuality, and masturbation. It presents an image of the Great Textbook War Debate gone the wrong way. Though it's a very extreme case, it is still very frightening.
Here are the songs I recommend listening to - don't worry, these ones are appropriate:
Mama Who Bore Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSOsz4-J-_8
Same song, with the reprise and video, not as great quality or performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvS3POd1YYI
All That's Known: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9Ut1IcEqg
The Latin in the beginning is a passage from Virgil's Aeneid. This is the only video I could find with good sound quality.
The Guilty Ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V68D-NeeJIw
Whispering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QF6qVrcpL4
Those You've Known: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj7zI8uZ1EU
The Song of Purple Summer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrw1p6OdcSs
If your okay with a few swear words, I highly recommend listening to "Totally F*****": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIx7yW9FMfw
I think it best represents the argument between the teenagers needing freedom of speech and their suppression.
No comments:
Post a Comment