You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
em_thetheatrenerd13 's review for:
Spring Awakening
by Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater
I have a bit of a complicated relationship with Spring Awakening. I saw the original play performed live first, was not very impressed with the annotated script or the original Broadway production, but then decided to give it another chance after seeing an incredible virtual adaptation by MSD Productions during the COVID-19 pandemic and clips from the 2015 Deaf West adaptation. My final thoughts are that I enjoy and respect both, but it is a “pick your poison” material; one is going to love one or the other, or like/dislike both. Overall, Spring Awakening is a fascinating stage production centered around teen adolescence, sexuality and growth that the reader/audience member can relate to and appreciate the theatrical experience.
First written by Frank Wedekind in 1891 then adapted into a musical in 2007 by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, the play’s setting is late 19th century Germany centering around a group of teenagers within their everyday life. The characters face abuse (at home and school), misunderstanding of puberty, rape, self-doubt, destructive education, suicide, abortion, death, adolescence, and potential self understanding. The play serves as an expressionist/avant-garde theatre piece entitled as "A Children's Tragedy" while the musical is a rock music adaptation that makes the teenagers very modern to their timeline and changes certain scenes that might bother people depending on the production's representation (such as the Hayloft scene with Wendla and Melchior and the Finale). Both stories however show the struggles of growing up and finding acceptance even during times of turmoil. The play and musical present how the teen characters have to find their way of understanding by themselves and decide how their past hardships will shape them in the future.
Even with the different adaptations, both the play and musical of Spring Awakening successfully portrays the positive and negative periods of life many teenagers experience and how they attempt to live through them when their society and families do not accept them. This would also be a theatre piece I would recommend both theatre and non theatre people to see performed live and only read both the play and musical scripts afterwards. Seeing this particular story perform live on stage will get one invested with the plot and characters, and can help to enjoy the experience more. I personally found seeing the virtual production of Spring Awakening more enjoyable than just reading the scripts for the first time, even bringing me to tears at the end. A mixed-bag and strange review, but I do highly recommend Spring Awakening as a must-see (play OR musical) performance, and come to your own decision.
First written by Frank Wedekind in 1891 then adapted into a musical in 2007 by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, the play’s setting is late 19th century Germany centering around a group of teenagers within their everyday life. The characters face abuse (at home and school), misunderstanding of puberty, rape, self-doubt, destructive education, suicide, abortion, death, adolescence, and potential self understanding. The play serves as an expressionist/avant-garde theatre piece entitled as "A Children's Tragedy" while the musical is a rock music adaptation that makes the teenagers very modern to their timeline and changes certain scenes that might bother people depending on the production's representation (such as the Hayloft scene with Wendla and Melchior and the Finale). Both stories however show the struggles of growing up and finding acceptance even during times of turmoil. The play and musical present how the teen characters have to find their way of understanding by themselves and decide how their past hardships will shape them in the future.
Even with the different adaptations, both the play and musical of Spring Awakening successfully portrays the positive and negative periods of life many teenagers experience and how they attempt to live through them when their society and families do not accept them. This would also be a theatre piece I would recommend both theatre and non theatre people to see performed live and only read both the play and musical scripts afterwards. Seeing this particular story perform live on stage will get one invested with the plot and characters, and can help to enjoy the experience more. I personally found seeing the virtual production of Spring Awakening more enjoyable than just reading the scripts for the first time, even bringing me to tears at the end. A mixed-bag and strange review, but I do highly recommend Spring Awakening as a must-see (play OR musical) performance, and come to your own decision.