The musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening has been popular on Broadway for over a year, but audiences in Athens who see the play version this weekend and next will be serenaded by Pink Floyd.
Director Heather Keith hopes the soundtrack, which completely consists of Pink Floyd, will add accessibility to the eighteenth-century play.
Pink Floyd's music just matches the angst and the alienation and gives modern students something to relate to
Keith said. The School of Theater at Ohio University is presenting the play, which opens today at 8 p.m.
The script paints a story of teen angst in the midst of the characters' sexual coming-of-age and tackles topics such as rape, abortion and suicide.
The play and musical have several key plot differences, and the play has a darker feel than the musical, Keith said.
There's this whole sense of 'us versus them' between the children and adults with the children trying to express themselves and the adults holding them back Keith said.
The division is conveyed during the opening of the play, when the characters march around like soldiers in a choreographed sequence, she said.
The adults are forcing the kids into a complete lack of individuality
she said.
The play brings audiences back to mental changes experienced as a teenager, said Matt Cleaver, an OU senior who plays the part of Moritz.
It was really challenging to bring myself back to being a teenager and how my brain was changing and how awful it seemed
he said. I had put myself into being a character that was past the brink of despair.
Actors confronted the challenge of getting into a 14-year-old characters' body, said Tyler Rollinson, a senior who plays Melchior in the play.
It was hard to be in that mindset of a completely sexually repressed society
Rollinson said. I had a hard time relating to that.
Spring Awakening was often banned or censured because of its delicate subject matter, said Jordan Schildcrout, director of the theater program at OU.
There's no other play quite like it
he said.
The play aims to raise awareness about how children explore sexuality, Schildecrout said, adding that the theme is still relevant in society because of modern controversy about sex education.
Audiences should not be intimidated by the controversial subject matter, said Anwen Dick, a senior who plays Wendla.
Don't be afraid by the experience
we all know someone like these characters and have someone to relate to
she said.
Spring Awakening runs the weekends of Feb. 20-23 and Feb. 27-March 1. Admission is free for OU students.
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