Thursday, March 26, 2009 » A musical exploring the themes of teen pregnancy, suicide and abortion doesn’t seem Indiana Wesleyan appropriate (or “IWU-ppriate,” as some students say). But the Tony Award-winning musical “Spring Awakening” allows IWU students to grapple with these themes from a Christian perspective.
The musical follows a group of 19th century teenagers who begin to question the moral standards they have always followed. They slowly deviate from their parents’ teachings and begin exploring sexuality.
Instead of giving guidance to the teenagers, the adults write more rules. The teens end up confused, finding comfort in each other or in the escape of death.
“There are some [musicals] that are family-fun and fancy-free,” said EB Campbell (jr), “but this isn’t it.”
Students are encouraged to research the musical before seeing it and to take everything with a grain of salt, according to Campbell.
“As a whole, it is done very tastefully,” Campbell said. “They challenge [the line] . . . but they don’t cross that line that it becomes trash.”
Although the themes of “Spring Awakening” are heavy, most are dealt with offstage and are implied, sparing the audience from stark content.
“I find that in the musical, though there are questionable things that do not go by the IWU standard, there is also a lot of truth,” said Campbell. “I know that we serve a God of truth. You cannot discount something just because someone sins.”
According to its official Web site, “Spring Awakening” has premiered on and off Broadway since 2006. The musical, first adapted as a play, was created by German playwright Frank Wedekind in 1891, but was subsequently banned from the stage for over 100 years due to explicit content.
“This isn’t the kind of thing you would think of coming out of [19th century] Germany, such a straight-laced Protestant country,” said history major Emily Inman (jr).
Despite the 100 year gap between this generation and playwright Wedekind, the story has not lost its relevancy, according to Inman.
“[The musical] deals with things that people still deal with today,” said Inman. “The human condition hasn’t changed.”
When theater production major Cody Konschak (fr) saw “Spring Awakening” on Broadway last winter he was surprised by the response from older adults. Many were taken aback that people so young dealt with the issues the musical addresses, he said.
“We’re a totally different generation than there has ever been,” said Konschak. “We’re very open to who we are and our uniqueness, and we’re okay with that.” *
According to Konschak, refusing to accept this change is what leads to suicide, teen pregnancy and abortion – the themes discussed in “Spring Awakening.” Society needs to learn to love people who are hurting according to Konschak.
“We want to adopt that idea [of being World Changers], but we don’t apply it,” said Konschak. “[These characters] are able to do that. Why can’t we?”
* Minor edit made