2008 Woodie Awards
Spring awakens for Rockhurst Players
Jason Arnold
Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: News
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Spring Awakening, a play written in 1891 by Frank Wedekind, has surprisingly modern overtones. It chronicles the parental pressures imposed upon a group of fourteen-year-olds in Germany and how they deal with their sexual identities.
Alan Nichols was the visiting director. He has directed several prior Rockhurst productions, the most recent of which was Reckless in fall of 2004. Nichols initially suggested this particular play for the theater season but had some apprehension about performing it at Rockhurst, due to its slightly risqué themes. "I had no idea what to expect," Nichols said, referring to the production. "I wasn't even sure we could find a cast. But [the people that auditioned] were more than anxious. There was a lot of energy during the rehearsals." That energy continued into the performance nights, as the cast played to a receptive crowd. The curtain came down each night to enthusiastic applause, and some audience members felt a standing ovation was in order.
After the opening night performance, actors and audience members sat down to a "Talk Back" discussion about the value of the play. Dr. Susan Proctor, director of the theater program, organized the session. "I plan to have a session after the opening night of every show," she said. "Ours is an educational theater. Theater as culture is educational, but education also requires reflection and conversation. This [Talk Back] should really help that."
Fr. John Vowels, S.J., Dr. Saz Madison of the Psychology Department, and Dr. Elbert Darden of the Counseling Center all took part in the Talk Back. The main point of discussion was the relevance of Spring Awakening to today's parenting. This Modernist play effectively points out problems that are inherent even in our post-modern society. Dr. Darden made it clear that these issues are going to become even more prominent in our culture: "We are on the cusp of a values revolution; it will challenge us to look at what we've been doing the last twenty years and see if we can change that." This play and this production effectively brought to light the experiences of our youth and the problems that they have integrating their new identities into their lives.
Spring Awakening was a great success theatrically and intellectually for the Players and the Center for Arts and Letters. The musical Urinetown, scheduled for November, is next on the schedule and should prove to be an interesting production as well.
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