SPRING AWAKENING

BY FRANK WEDEKIND

Wedekind’s 1891 play about the beauty and pain of adolescent sexuality is astonishingly modern, both in its theme and its sprawling dramatic structure _ a large cast populating many scenes and locations. The director, Joanna Adler, and I agreed that a naturalistic period-specific design would not be appropriate if we were to make the play relevant and immediate to the audience and, especially, to the student actors.

I settled on a permanent structure (with some removable elements that could be used as props) modeled on a jungle gym. This suited the playful physicality of the director’s handling of the actors and the business she gave them, while suggesting through Deborah Brother’s costumes, youth and childhood. With Sabrina Hamilton’s expressionistic lighting, and the flexible elements of the set, locations could be communicated easily and rapidly while supporting an almost seamless flow from scene to scene.

A love scene between two boys took place under the curved ladder of the jungle gym that served as a romantic private grape arbor. A few scenes later in the harrowing abortion sequence, the same ladder was inverted to become the abortionist’s operating table, emphasizing the tragic youth of the doomed teenaged patient.

We used a permanent cyclorama for atmospheric projections and lighting effects. Other, more symbolic projections appeared on a screen that flew in front of the set. Among the few period references were projections drawn from anatomical diagrams in medical textbooks.

One of the most satisfying responses to the scenic design came from the student cast, who as a group acknowledged that the physical action and "play" that the set demanded from them supported energetic and powerful performances.