JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
Nick Wentzel, left, plays Moritz Steifel
and Sara Hoskins plays Ilse in Civic Theatre's
production of "Spring Awakening,"
directed by Christopher Tyner.
When Chris Tyner ordered a reading copy of Frank Wedekind's
"Spring Awakening." he wasn't sure he could really stage it with
high school actors at Evansville Civic Theatre.
When he read the script, which deals frankly and forthrightly
with teenage sex, abortion, homosexuality and suicide in Germany
in the late 19th century, he couldn't put it down, however, said
Tyner, Civic's education director.
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
Katie Glaser, plays Wendla Bergmann,
left, Jessica Massey plays Martha Bessel,
center, and Kayli Russell plays Thea in
Spring Awakening.
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
Katie Glaser, plays Wendla Bergmann,
left, and Paula Boenigk plays her mother,
Frau Bergmann in Spring Awakening.
"I read it cover to cover. By the time I finished it, I was
actually in tears. Then I didn't see how we could not do this
play."
Civic will present "Spring Awakening" today through Sunday,
using a cast of 17 area teens and 10 adults.
In its day, Wedekind's depiction of adolescents wrestling
through their sexual awakening in a society where such matters
were considered too vulgar for private, much less public,
discussion was considered scandalous. The play was branded
vulgar and pornographic.
Tyner remembered skimming the text when he was in college,
"but I still didn't quite get it," he said.
"I couldn't get my head around it."
He picked up the play again and read it more carefully this
year, after the Broadway rock musical adaptation of "Spring
Awakening" by Evansville native Steven Sater and composer Duncan
Sheik swept eight Tony awards, including Best Musical, Best Book
and Best Score.
Tyner wanted to know what compelled Sater to create a
21st-century musical version of a play written nearly 120 years
ago. The answer sprang forth in this reading.
"On every single page of that script I saw a kid I had worked
with in the last 10 years," he said.
He knew the show was right for Civic's Next Wave educational
program, but he knew it would require special handling.
That began at auditions, when Tyner asked every actor younger
than 18 to bring a parent or guardian. Before the initial
tryouts, Tyner explained the nature of the show and its subject
matter.
"I just told them everything that this play addresses, while
it may sound shocking, is something kids today have to deal with
and something (adults), as children, had to deal with as well,
but sometimes we close our eyes to that."
In presenting "Spring Awakening," Tyner aims to help open the
eyes of both teens and adults, he says, "to say it's OK for us
to talk about this stuff."
One parent withdrew his child from the audition, and another
student didn't return for rehearsal, said Tyner, but the
students that committed to the show "have really tackled it with
a real level of maturity."
"They want to show how important it is that kids and adults
are open with each other and talk to each other, and that these
are the consequences — what can happen when that doesn't happen.
Some of the most controversial scenes — including a rape and
a group masturbation encounter — are insinuated, but never shown
on stage, noted Tyner.
He's tried to present it in a way that considers the
sensibilities of the community, and the fact that his players
are teenagers.
"Still, everything that's dealt with in this show are things
these kids have to deal with on a day-to-day basis," he said.
"That's the reality of this show this stuff happens and yo
have to be willing to talk to your kids about it. And kids have
to be willing to talk to mom and dad when you've got a
question."
