Tim's Vision and Contextual Research

'Spring Awakening' is a German play, considered a Children's Tragedy, by the German dramatist Frank Wedekind. It was his first major play and was viewed as being his first work in the modern history of theatre. It was written between 1890 and 1891, but was first performed on 20th November 1906 in Berlin at the Deutsches Theatre. Wedekind's controversial play criticises the sexually oppressed  society of the 1800's and offers the dramatic outcomes to what could happen. The play included very taboo topics, such as; puberty, sexuality, child rape, abuse and suicide and abortion. It is because of this that the play has been censored or banned over the years. 

1917 saw the first staged 'Spring Awakening' in English performed in New York. It was threatened with closure because the local council complained with was pornographic, however a New York Trial Court issued an injunction which allowed the performances to continue. A musical adaptation of the play opened in 2006 off Broadway and then moved there gaining eight Tony Awards. The play has also been adapted into a television film in 2008 and has recently been translated by Anya Reiss with Headlong to go on tour around Britain in the spring of 2014.

The play's rocky past is symbolic and reflective of the play's initial premise. After researching the play I discovered that today's society is in general more open to controversial plays, and I think 'Spring Awakening' was a catalyst for future playwrights to express subjects in the theatre which happen day to day, but are covered up due to human nature. 

Tim's Vision 
Originally, this play was meant to be set in the period it was written in, the late 1800's but the scriptwriter intended 'Spring Awakening' to be timeless, therefore we are bringing it up to date. Tim's vision is to have this set in a dystopia  future where bold topics like reproduction and sexuality are not discussed and the general populace are watched over by a higher government, in our case the teachers. Tim wants to keep the old fashioned atmosphere alive, so we are incorporating it into the costumes and set. The costumes will be inspired from the late 19th Century and from the film The Double. The set is going to be very basic and structured, while having a futuristic feel to it. We recently agreed that all the children are going to be bare foot as this symbolizes innocence and will make the set and costume flow better.

Today we got to see the set design for the first time. TTA came in and did a presentation on how it would look. Here are a few images. The black raised platform will mean our performance space will be confined which echo's the atmosphere of our play. The two hanging heads are referenced in the teacher scenes and the harsh, classroom like over lighting highlights the uncomfortable feel to this play:

I really like the idea of setting our interpretation of 'Spring Awakening' in a conflicted future, as it shows how our society could potentially end up and I think highlights the importance of the play. The costume and set work with the text and feel we got form reading this play.