Spring Awakening breaks taboos, both onstage and off

Let’s talk about sex.

Better yet, let’s talk about sex with a bunch of 14-year-olds. From 19th century Germany. And let’s listen to them sing about it. In fact, let’s just watch them do it.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s Spring Awakening, a rock musical based on the controversial 19th century German play of the same name, explores sexuality in a repressive society. The Hoof ‘n’ Horn production follows a dozen students as they ask where babies come from, why they’re having wet dreams and whether life’s worth living.

“I knew when we started, I wasn’t going to shy away from any of this,” said director and junior Phil Watson. With song titles like “Totally F**ked” and a lot of onstage passion, Watson promises that audience members “can have their cake and eat it too.”

“If you’ve yet to be sexually awakened in any way… If you’ve always listened to your parents… If you’re the defiant type… If you’ve been in over your head, there’s a version of you in this show,” said co-producer and junior Daisygreen Stenhouse. “Everything we deal with in our lives is on this stage.”

Also onstage is the eight-piece orchestra, directed by senior Kevin He. The score is powerful and unforgettable, incorporating electric riffs and a full drum kit. The juxtaposition of modern sound and period dress highlights the teen angst that pours out of the rebellious and inquisitive cast of young adults.

The modest set and few props allow the audience to focus all of their attention on the performers—as if they could look away. The performance engages audience members through interpretive choreography and strong vocals in a series of numbers that are haunting at times, electrifying at others.

“The energy of the show is something people can feel,” said choreographer and sophomore Melanie Heredia, who also plays Thea, one of the schoolgirls. Heredia says the biggest challenge the actors face will be maintaining that energy through both acts, as the performance is fast-paced and full of big musical numbers.

Also challenging, namely for lead performers Drew Klingner and Jenna Lanz, is the final number of the first act, which contains partial nudity. A first for current Hoof ‘n’ Horn members, the inclusion of nudity onstage follows the current season’s reputation for pushing the envelope, with previous shows such as Avenue Q and Cabaret also containing explicit content. The duo agrees that the show has pushed them outside of their comfort zone; Lanz, a sophomore, is particularly grateful that she was cast alongside Klingner, a junior and good friend of hers. “There’s a lot of intimacy between the characters that you can only fake so much,” she said.

The challenging themes presented in the show through tragic scenes and unforgettable scores will resonate long after the performance. The chilling duet between Martha (junior Mary Kate Francis) and Ilse (junior Abby Glackin) acts as a catharsis for the sexually assaulted characters; the ballad between forbidden lovers Ernst (senior Robert Francis) and Hanschen (junior Martavius Parrish) is equally captivating.

“It’s one of those tragic stories where everything that goes wrong could have easily been prevented if someone had said the right thing,” said Stenhouse. “It’s something we as a campus struggle with on a regular basis, just trying to communicate what we want and what we need from each other before everything gets catastrophic.”

Spring Awakening opens tonight, April 11 at 8p.m. in Reynolds Theater and will run until Sun., April 21. Tickets are available online or at the box office.