Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening Review
Naomi Neal
October 14, 2011
The show Spring Awakening in a nutshell, is about a bunch of kids discovering who they are and what they’re bodies are going through. The children all experience sexual fantasies, question life, rebel, and have loads of angst. The play set in a provincial German town in the 1890s, deals with incest, suicide, sex, abuse, pregnancy, and first loves. A really inspiring play that shocked audiences with its audacity when first performed in 1917. The debut performance almost didn't take place because the New York City Commissioner of Licenses tried to shut it down, claiming that the play was pornographic in nature. A very controversial show even today and is highly respected throughout the theatre world. 1. My overall visceral reaction to Spring Awakening was very surprising to me personally, because I did not expect to have such a deep emotional experience with it. When I saw the show at the Adrienne Arsht it was fantastic but it did not leave me with the feeling I had after this show. I connected much more the show this time and the actors made everything very real for me. I must say I was thoroughly impressed. 2. The playwright wants us to “take away” from the show the message that children should be allowed to express their feelings without authority crashing down on them. To make your own independent person so that you can mature into an adult with your own outlook on life. 3. The production affected me very personally. I have NEVER cried in a show before because I have never really had an extreme connection to the content, but in the funeral scene I totally broke down. I kept looking around to see if anyone else was crying in that scene! The whole topic of death is, for a lack of a better vocabulary word, weird. It makes you experience so many different emotions that you are not used to on a daily basis. Such strong emotions that change your views on life and the person or animal
Naomi Neal
October 14, 2011
The show Spring Awakening in a nutshell, is about a bunch of kids discovering who they are and what they’re bodies are going through. The children all experience sexual fantasies, question life, rebel, and have loads of angst. The play set in a provincial German town in the 1890s, deals with incest, suicide, sex, abuse, pregnancy, and first loves. A really inspiring play that shocked audiences with its audacity when first performed in 1917. The debut performance almost didn't take place because the New York City Commissioner of Licenses tried to shut it down, claiming that the play was pornographic in nature. A very controversial show even today and is highly respected throughout the theatre world. 1. My overall visceral reaction to Spring Awakening was very surprising to me personally, because I did not expect to have such a deep emotional experience with it. When I saw the show at the Adrienne Arsht it was fantastic but it did not leave me with the feeling I had after this show. I connected much more the show this time and the actors made everything very real for me. I must say I was thoroughly impressed. 2. The playwright wants us to “take away” from the show the message that children should be allowed to express their feelings without authority crashing down on them. To make your own independent person so that you can mature into an adult with your own outlook on life. 3. The production affected me very personally. I have NEVER cried in a show before because I have never really had an extreme connection to the content, but in the funeral scene I totally broke down. I kept looking around to see if anyone else was crying in that scene! The whole topic of death is, for a lack of a better vocabulary word, weird. It makes you experience so many different emotions that you are not used to on a daily basis. Such strong emotions that change your views on life and the person or animal