Guest Artists:
Direction: Garrett Ayers, Associate member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation
Dramaturgy: Allison Horsley, LMDA
Translation: Douglas Langworthy, SDC, professional director
Premiering in 1906, Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind follows the sexual awakening of a group of 14-year-olds. The source for a Broadway musical, this cutting-edge classic launched the 20th-century avant-garde theatre and was so boldly honest that it was not performed without censorship for sixty-three years.
A “tragedy of childhood,” Spring Awakening is about the springtime of life, and it is clear that being a teenager a century ago was no easier than being a teenager nowadays. The 13 members of the cast may speak in starchy language and wear old-fashioned clothes, but sexual discovery, parental pressure, and youthful angst are entirely recognizable.
The production is the Colorado premiere of Spring Awakening in a new translation by Denver Center Theatre’s Douglas Langworthy.
Read More: ‘Spring Awakening’ Pushes Boundaries by Nick Hensley
NOT APPROPRIATE FOR YOUTH UNDER 18
“I first read the play in its original language in a German literature class in college and immediately fell in love with it, not just for what it had to say about the importance of honesty in parent-child relationships, but also for its inventive form and style – each character has a unique voice, and finding their expression in English was a difficult yet satisfying challenge.” – Denver Center Theatre’s Douglas Langworthy, translator
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Colorado State University Theatre presents Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, directed by Garrett Ayers.
