When I found out the three Common Ground plays were 'Spring
Awakening', 'Summerfolk' and 'Six Characters in search of an Author' I
only recognized one which was 'Spring Awakening' due to the famous
west end musical. I went home and researched all three and noticed how serious
and relevant the context and themes of these plays are. I
think the context for 'Spring Awakening' and 'Six Characters in Search of and
Author' are slightly more taboo than that of 'Sumemrfolk', as they
include topics such as child rape and suicide. I think all three plays
are brilliant selections for this years Common Ground as they
are all quite different and explore different issues and time periods. In
addition to researching each play I read some of the character descriptions and
noticed the character in 'Spring Awakening' named Wendla was fairly similar to
the character in 'Bunny' which is the play I had picked for my audition speech.
This helped give me some insight into the type of play perhaps 'Spring
Awakening' is.
After finding out I was in the cast of
'Spring Awakening' I researched it again to refresh my memory and looked at
some songs from the musical to gather up a feel for the play before
our first read through. I liked the plot line and the story the characters
undertake. I think it's a really interesting play because it seems so far ahead
of its time, meaning I think it would work in any time setting. Upon reading
'Spring Awakening' for the first time, I found the language quite dated but I
felt as if it worked with the theme of restriction. The first read through of
the play was the cast read through and we all had our parts. This helped give
me an idea of how the story would be coming alive over the next few months.
It definitely worked reading the play all together and out loud
because plays are meant to be performed and read out loud, not like a novel.
Even though this is a children's tragedy, I found small pockets of comedic
potential and started to get excited about the rehearsal process. Although
there are a few stage directions, they aren't too restricting which I really
find thrilling as it enables me the freedom if playing with my character and
doing whatever feels natural. I read the play once without paying much
attention to my lines and then again later on, but this time focusing on
Wendla's story and words. This helped me to get into the mind set of Wendla and
see her importance to the plot while seeing how the play would be different if
she wasn't in it.
Having said this, at some points I did
think the dated language did distract the natural flow of a few scenes and
could potentially make the physicality stilted. I think this is a
challenge we all need to tackle, as the text isn't quite old English but it
isn't quite modern. This didn't distract me much from the hidden comedy,
sadness and enjoyment I got from reading this play. The dialogue has been
translated from German and I think this may affect a few lines on occasions.
However, after a couple more read troughs I found the language easier to
say and I began to get excited about making the language easy for me and
relatable to the audience.
I really enjoyed the story of 'Spring
Awakening' and the different journeys these characters go on. I already feel
really attached to all the characters and love the touching dialogue,
especially in the last scene. I feel this play is touching, in places
disturbing but also a very human piece which I'm sure will affect our audience.
I'm looking forward to tackling the weight of this play but also
finding the small comedic possibilities within the scenes.
I think setting this play in the future
but still keeping some elements of the 1800's alive with the use of costume and
restrictive topics. Wedekind wrote this play to be timeless and apply to every
new generation, so I think changing the time period will help make this play
more relatable and bring the world of 'Spring Awakening' alive.
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