By Kari Welch
Do you remember what it was like to be a teenager? Everything was heightened — desire, obsession, love, failure, sadness. You had so much inside and often lacked the toolbox to deal with that much emotion and uncertainty.
Spring Awakening soaks in the angst and longing of that time when we were all somewhere between child and adult. It is also a cry to an adult world that didn’t always equip us to make it through our teenage years.
The multiple adults, played by two actors (Vanessa Greenway and Douglas Killingtree), portray mothers, fathers, professors, clergy, piano teachers, etc., and represent sexual fantasy, repression, ignorance, and authoritarianism. They are demanding, withholding, scolding, and abusive, and they fail to provide the information needed to guide. This is particularly true of Wendla and her mother. In the first scene, Wendla begs her mother to tell her how babies are made. The mother refuses, then relents and spins a confusing tale about love that leaves Wendla in the dark, left to fumble through her first sexual experience without a basic understanding of what can happen.
The 2½-hour musical has been controversial since its 2006 debut for its exploration of teenage sex, masturbation, abuse, and homosexuality. With that comes the inner turmoil of discovering love and sexual identity, and of reconciling both with an adult world that has withheld information yet set high moral and academic expectations. Over a century has passed since the original play was written, and two decades since the Tony Award-winning musical had its debut. What hasn’t changed is the feeling teenagers have, that what is happening inside them is so different from what the outside world tells them. What’s going on physically doesn’t match what they are taught or lectured about. The world’s expectations are so different from the yearning, desire, and exploration happening within.
There is an imbalance of power in what the boys and girls of Spring Awakening experience. The young women are left at a disadvantage in their knowledge of sex — their chatter is more about boys they like and less about facts. They are also clearly vulnerable to abuse from the adults in their lives, implied to be physical and sexual, and the character Ilse makes hard choices to escape it. The young men, on the other hand, are more versed in the facts and share that knowledge with each other. Their conflict with adults lies more in rigor and expectation.
To be clear, the adults in this musical are not portrayed in a flattering light. The original 1891 play, Frühlings Erwachen (Spring Awakening) by Frank Wedekind, was a criticism of the sexually oppressive culture of the late nineteenth century. Wedekind is considered a forerunner of expressionism and the theatre of the absurd.
The music could be described as folk, grunge, emo, and rock — a departure from your usual pop or musical theater fare. Composer Duncan Sheik writes music that is pleasing and familiar to Gen X ears, coupled with the poetry of lyricist Steven Sater. Lyrics like “But there’s nowhere to hide from these bones from my mind / It’s broken inside. I’m a man and a child / I’m at home with a ghost, who got left in the cold / Who knocks at my peace, with no keys to my soul.” (The Mirror-Blue Night) and “O, I’m gonna be wounded / O, I’m gonna be your wound / O, I’m gonna bruise you / O, you’re gonna be my bruise” (The Word of Your Body) so effectively communicate teenage angst, youthful sexuality, and love.
The set is repurposed from last year’s production of Lizzie but works very well for this piece. The purple swirls painted on the floor suggest a dream state with potentially erotic undertones. Orchestra Next’s instruments blend into the stark winter forest trees and become part of the set. The audience is greeted with an empty chair at center stage, suggesting the loneliness of the teenage years. The back wall is lit in purple, perhaps foreshadowing the musical’s last song.
Finally, the cast is solid in both leads and ensemble. Craig Willis said 150 auditions were requested during the casting call, 80 of them from out of state. To OCT’s credit, most of those cast are local to Oregon, reflecting the deep well of talent in our town and state.
Note: Ironically, the day reviewer Kari Welch saw Spring Awakening, the composer of its music, Duncan Sheik, died of cardiac arrest at age 56. Welch advises, “The best way to honor his gifts to this world is to catch Oregon Contemporary Theatre’s production while you can.” The show continues through Sept. 27, 2026.)
