“Spring Awakening” Brings Important Messages to SLU

Oh, you’re gonna be wounded. Oh, this show will be your wound.

The cast of “Spring Awakening” packs a punch, telling a story of love, heartache, pain and loss. Next Wednesday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 11, 19 actors will take the stage and tell the stories of teenagers questioning all they have been taught and the impact that it has on the relationships they have built.

The production staff has been working with this group of talented individuals since mid-September, through countless rehearsals for staging, songs and movement. We are excited for the final product!

Director Jen Thomas described the show as a “journey from adolescence to adulthood with a poignancy and passion that is illuminating and unforgettable…The musical follows a group of late 19th century German students as they navigate teenage self-discovery and coming-of-age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion.”

Matt Bitzer ’19 portrays Melchior Gabor, a teenager desperate to learn and feel all that he can, despite the powers that be trying to suppress his liberal mindset.

When asked about his favorite message from the show, Bitzer stated that “despite what societal pressures you face, your life is worth something.” This message recurs throughout the show in a multitude of ways.

Anna Elston ’20 takes the stage opposite Bitzer as Wendla Bergmann. Elston describes Wendla as “a naïve yet curious girl. I think her willingness to learn and discover new things is my favorite part of her character. I think her discoveries about her body and sexuality is important as it resonates with themes regarding public health.”

Elston continues to reflect on the message of rebellion that the show embodies, especially with the present state of our nation. She stated, “rebellion has consequences, but I think ‘Spring Awakening’ shows the benefit of rebellion in order to talk about stigmatized topics regarding mental health and sex.”

Devin Guilfoyle ’19 plays a number of the adult characters in the show, who act to quell the rebellion in their midst and keep the local youth in check. He states that the roles are important in “demonstrating the type of people who proliferate the oppressive socioeconomic paradigm.”

Guilfoyle goes on to state, “this show is meaningful to me because its dark themes [e.g. sexual education (or lack thereof), sexual violence, child abuse] are issues that are still relevant to our times. We may have come a distance from 1890s Germany, but, as this show suggests, we still have a long way to go.”

This show deals with many issues that were not only prevalent during the 1890s, but that also remain prevalent in our current society such as suicide, domestic and sexual violence, child abuse, lack of adequate resources for women’s health and mental health.

Cast members advise audience members that this show will not be like the last musical to grace the Gulick Theater stage, “Legally Blonde.” This is not a comedy. While there are lighthearted moments to break up the serious themes, audiences should be in the right mindset to view this performance, physically, mentally and emotionally. This show is meant to make viewers a bit uncomfortable: you may cringe, you may cry, and that is okay!

Quinn Audsley ’20 is not only a part of the cast, but is also a member of the Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Coalition (SA/DV Coalition) who will be participating in “Students Speak Out: Conversation. Community. Change.” taking place between the 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. shows on Saturday, Nov. 11.

Audsley believes that the show will have a great impact on the campus as a whole. She states, “my hope is that when you sit in Gulick Theatre, you are confronted with a number of stories that are true, valid and vulnerable, that you face the things we are told to hide or be ashamed of, things we are told are our faults, mental health, sexual assault, lack of transparency.”

She continues, “my hope is that faculty and administrators sitting in the audience recognize that we are not solely playing out roles in a show, we are acting out the inescapable realities for students on our campus that are too often unacknowledged and invalidated. It is the same campus that pays their salary, the same campus that they get to leave at the end of the day, but we students do not. We are not singing for your pleasure, we are singing so you have to listen.”

This show is sure to be one you will not want to miss. Tickets are available online (see our posters for details) or in the Box Office outside of Gulick! So join us, Nov. 7 through 11, in Gulick Theater and join the conversation. Let us break down the stigma and raise awareness for those who are living these stories, one song at a time.