SINDAC, Aurason Therese V.

103525 III-BFA CW

From Page to Stage: Spring Awakening

In this play about puberty and crossing the boundaries of taboos, from the moment that the lights in the theatre dimmed and Blue Rep began their performance, it was only too easy to get hooked, to be swept away in awe by the harmony of sounds and sights. But when the first scenes started to play out, it was only clear how much different the musical is from the original aside from the addition of songs. The musical takes its opening scene from about halfway into the original script where Wendla insists that her mother explain to her how babies are made. Both the original and the musical unfold the chain of events in chronological order but the musical rearranged, removed and added certain scenes to accommodate the music (making sure that the scenes were still relevant to the act that it was now part of). Little stage direction is given in the script only at the start of each scene and during crucial moments of the play. Basically, it means that where the characters will position themselves is up to the director (or whoever is in charge of blockings and choreography). The second scene is a little different from the original. If in the original, the boys are merely talking about whether they did their homework, the musical presented a classroom setting where Moritz gets caught falling asleep in class and Melchior comes to his rescue, getting into a debate with their teacher. From here, I could immediately tell the Melchior would be a very important character and he showed up in almost every scene after. The boys then burst into song about how its the bitch of living and the girls got a song number about how they feel towards the guys that they liked. The script left a lot for the reader to imagine such as the scene in the musical when Melchior and Wendla have sex, when Moritz shoots himself, or when Wendla was taken 1

away for the abortion. But plot-wise, both the original and the musical weave a coming-ofage story about a group of teenagers and the trouble they get into because theyre young and they each have different situations. Characters were not really changed except that all the adults were played by the same two actors (a man and a woman). There is an inclusion of a music teacher, a priestly figure and couple more parents (still played by those two actors) but not much is said about them except they really try to control the youth as they like. Wendla is still the same kind-hearted girl who is curious about growing up just as much as her peers. Melchior is the same intellectual (to the point that its almost obnoxious) atheist. And all the teenaged characters were nave and vulnerable, susceptible to their environment and how the adults treated them. I think the musical did a better job at focusing on each of the major characters. Basically, the audience follows the lives of Wendla, Melchior and Moritz shedding some light also their friends Martha, Ilse, Ernst and Hans as their stories stem from the original three. The audience watches as the boys worry about maintaining their grades while being haunted by perverted dreams, since theyre at the age when they start feeling sexual desires. And the risk of getting caught only adds to the thrill of indulging in the taboos which even the adults seem to be afraid of. The girls float about in their ideals, twittering about their crushes and their acts of charity; at the same time, they sympathize with their friend Martha who is a victim of domestic violence. Wendla in both versions is disturbed by the idea that she lived a fairly-pampered life while her friend, who is beautiful and did nothing to deserve it, is forced to experience such a horrible thing. Her curiosity led to her blindly asking Melchior to beat her. This in turn awakens a side that even Melchior didnt know existed. He dwells on this in the musical, but like in the original, he is agonized by his actions and tries to repent until Wendla approaches him again.

It seems as if the musical tried to play the story better by making it so that Wendla and Melchior believe that theyre in love with each other unlike in the original where Melchior does not believe even in love and forces himself on Wendla. The consequences are nearly the same: Moritz still shoots himself in desperation, Melchior gets sent to a reformatory, and Wendla finally learns what she has been asking for all this time. In the musical, Melchior immediately becomes concerned to know that Wendla is with child and plans his escape from the reformatory in hopes that he may be reconciled with the girl he loves. In the original, Melchior just learns about Wendlas death and feels guilty about it, the script not telling whether he really fell in love or if he even knew she was pregnant because of what he did. Moritz and Wendla are resurrected in the musical as ghosts if only to stop Melchior from taking his own life. The original play ended with a masked man taking Melchior away and Moritz is left, still dead. It hints at a higher being taking charge of the situation, by getting a hold of the one person who wields the brain, the power, to start a change. I could understand Melchiors want to rebel, seeing as how controlling the adults were Moritz pressuring him (in the musical), the teachers only being too happy about cutting Moritz off from the list of students who will go up to the next level, Melchiors mother offering help but still maintaining an appropriate distance as a parental figure. The adults were all afraid to talk about sex and they chastised Melchior whenever he tried to bring it up as something important, something that the youth did need to know about. Meanwhile, I understand that the adults only feared for the morality of the youth, knowing how it was like, having been teenagers themselves. They assumed the children would just learn along the way, for if they knew the truth, they might indulge too much in it. What I also liked about the musical that wasnt dwelled on in the original was the friendship between Melchior and Moritz. Sure, in the book, Melchior was willing to do

research for Moritz regarding the reproduction system. But it was in the musical, in the scene of Moritz funeral (where I admit to crying, and that was the only time I cried throughout the entire play), when Melchior was singing about lost opportunities, it was then I saw how badly he felt to have lost a friend his bestfriend at that. But I was happy to see that original let the gay couple have a somewhat happy ending, and thats what trumped the musical (in my personal opinion), hands down. I have some knowledge about music (being part of the Ateneo Blue Symphony and having been classically-trained since I was a child) so I have to say I was quite satisfied with the band that was chosen to play for the musical. There were times when the solo was a little off-key, or sounded too heavy (by heavy, I mean loud) for a solemn scene. I dont know who arranged the music, or if anything was changed to adapt it for Blue Rep, but I liked how it was mostly upbeat and totally mocking in tone especially the ending. The musical was a sight to see! Not only was the music pumping, the lights flashed like it was a party and there were times that the ushers (who were not really ushers but ensemble) joined in on the choreography even when they were situated in the audience. I couldnt sit still, didnt know where to look in eagerness to absorb everything.