Book Review: Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind

 Title:  Spring Awakening (Original German title: Frühlings Erwache)

Author:  Frank Wedekind, translated by Francis J. Ziegler

Series:   N/A

Published:    Feb 2012 by Methuen Drama. Written 1890-1. First performed 1906.

Length:  192 pages

Warnings: rape, suicide, child abuse, and abortion

Source: Project Gutenberg

Summary from Student edition:  Wedekind's notorious play Spring Awakening influenced a whole trend of modern drama and remains relevant to today's society, exploring the oppression and rebellion of adolescents among draconian parents and morals. This seminal work looks at the conflict between repressive adulthood and teenage sexual longings in a provincial German town. Highly controversial and with themes of sexuality, social attitudes and adolescence, the play is a popular and provocative text for study, especially at undergraduate level. 

Review: Late 1800s Germany.  Schoolboys and girls discover sexuality. It really does not go well. Among other things, Wedla Bergmann does not understand how babies are made, Moritz Stiefl is tormented by erotic dreams, and Melchior Gabor, having read about sex, now believes in nothing. In a series of scenes, we follow the teens as they try to navigate growing up.

You may have heard of the rock musical that got adapted from this play. It’s the controversial one that deals with rape, suicide, child abuse, and abortion.  When the play first came out in 1906, it was criticised for sexuality, puberty, and homosexuality as well, but to be honest, that’s the least of everyone’s problems. As someone who quite enjoyed the musical and enjoys reading/seeing source material, I knew I’d have to read it someday.

I felt that some characters were quite underdeveloped. Martha’s story is only mentioned in passing, most girls don’t get any characterisation beyond fancying Melchior, and I didn’t really care for what happened to the boys other than Melchior and Moritz. We do get good characterisation for the three main characters, and we did get to know what some people were thinking in detail (see next paragraph). It could have been better though.

Giant monologues. Ugh.  I know monologues are a standard part of drama, and I don’t mind a couple. But they seem to drag on and on and on, Hanschen’s “have you prayed tonight, Desdemona” one in particular, and if I were seeing this live, I would probably want the actors to just be quiet.

The plot is mostly driven by subtle indications of what’s happening. There are not that many stage directions, and if I didn’t know the story from the musical, I’d have had to reread quite a few scenes to make sure I understood what was going on.

What I really like about this play is that while it was written to criticise the repression of the 1800s, despite 120 years passing, it’s still relevant today:  the young people are unprepared for life due to the inadequacy of adults. There’s a scene after Moritz dies in which the teachers are going to start discussing what to do about his death, but then they spend ages arguing over what window should be opened, which is the clearest example of adults failing to care for young people, a theme also seen when Wedla’s mother does not tell her about conception until it’s too late.  The young people are victims of the society that forces academic knowledge on them (if they’re boys), does not tell them about life (for almost everyone) and leaves them to discover it on their own, which leads to tragedy.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a tragedy that showcases perfectly what happens when sex-ed fails.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | 

Theatre Review- Macbeth (in Pitch Black) by Shakespeare

I said I was going to branch out... It's time for tea-tre; thank you Georgia for the name :) 

I hope you don't mind the fact I'm doing something new with the blog. I'll be showcasing awesome things, so maybe you'll like it.

Title: Macbeth (in Pitch Black) 

Writer: William Shakespeare

Performed by: London Contemporary Theatre

Major cast: Noel Andrew Harron, Louise Bereford, Samuel Clifford,  James Burgess, Andrew Chase,

Director: Kevin Williams

Seen at: Windsor Firestation

Other Info: toured in November. Shakespeare has written many things.

Review: I really like Shakespeare (as you might be able to tell from my fangirling over the internet), so when I saw this advertised at the Firestation, one of my favourite places,  I was intrigued because they say they’re doing it in the dark. Then I got told one of my major pieces of coursework would be on Macbeth, and I knew I had to see it.

When we got there, the lights were down low in the foyer of the theatre as well, because The Dark Room was playing too, and the bar and everything was lit with UV and glowsticks. Then we were shown down to the basement, which was scary, because somebody thought it was a good idea to get about 100 people down some stairs, lighting it only with two tiny lanterns where the stairs turn corners. We got there though.

Despite the title, it’s not all in pitch black. Certain scenes used lights of various kinds, such as “candles” for Lady Macbeth, lights in balloons for the feast, lights in trashcans for the witches, and torches for the end. The sudden lights were used effectively, only for major scenes; more plotty, wordy, less actiony scenes were left in the dark. Doing it all in the dark was a really interesting way of staging it. I think it really made you listen more to what was happening, and is a very different way of performing a play.

The cast are amazingly talented. There’s five people doing the whole thing. Ok, some roles were cut down and some were merged, but everyone bar Macbeth took on more than one role, using voice to differentiate. Also, how on earth did they manage to move around and get everywhere they needed to be without repeatedly falling over things? Witchcraft, I tell you.

It’s cut down a lot. They kept the major bits in, and cut down the wordier bits, and most of the angsty bit with Macduff. They updated it a bit, using phones in place of messengers and some other touches that put it firmly in the modern world.

I loved the staging of it. The Basement in the Firestation has a small stage at the front and the rest of the room is flat. The chairs were set out on the flat, and the stage was on the flat too, with chairs making an aisle down the stage and some more to the side. This set up was really good, especially as I was sitting on the side of the stage

Overall: Strength 5 tea to a unique performance of a much-done play.

Links: Company | Theatre

Book Review- Equus by Peter Shaffer

 

Title: Equus 

 Author: Peter Shaffer

Series:  N/A

Published:  2 October 1984

Length: 112 pages

Warnings: semi-graphic sex and masturbation, violence,  person is pretty much  sexually attracted to horses. NOT FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 

Source: library

Other info: This has been staged many times, and has had a film version made.

Summary : lan Strang is a disturbed youth whose dangerous obsession with horses leads him to commit an unspeakable act of violence. As psychiatrist Martin Dysart struggles to understand the motivation for Alan's brutality, he is increasingly drawn into Alan's web and eventually forced to question his own sanity. Equus is a timeless classic and a cornerstone of contemporary drama that delves into the darkest recesses of human existence.

Review: Alan Strang is a seventeen year old who has blinded six horses with a metal spike. After the magistrate pulled a few strings, he ends up in a psychiatric hospital, being treated by Doctor Martin Drysart.  As well as learning the details about the events leading up to the incident, Drysart will also learn more and more about himself.

This book, is very very f***ed up. It’s a good book, but very messed up. It most certainly is not for: kids, those  offended by those who don’t  worship a conventional god, the squeamish, horselovers and a whole host of other people.

From a psychology point of view, it is one of the best things you can read. You really get into the heads of both the patient, as Alan and various other people recount past event, and the psychiatrist, as he questions himself in asides and thoughts spoken aloud.

Alan’s upbringing has caused him to get sex, religion and horses a little bit mixed up. Seeing his thoughts develop through the years, seeing what happened to get him where he is now, is really interesting. Drysart, too, with his moments of questioning how he got where he is, with his dreams of being an Aztec priest and his marriage to a disinterested woman and losing his own interest in life, and realising that he becomes much more lively when talking to Alan.

The relationships of the play are really deep. Alan is really an example of what different types of people do to shape you, from parents with conflicting views on religion, to the girl who shows him that things he’d held as important spiritually are actually normal.

The religion aspect of this is really interesting. you can see how Alan was drawn to create Equus as his deity, and how strong his belief is and what it drives him to do.

 I’d love to see this played live. The stage directions and the intimacy of what we get told is so intense. The humming  noise  of the god Equus is  well used in the script to indicate the importance of the following scenes. The climax of act 1, -that- scene that you all know about, gets you really into Alan’s head, but you also see the scene as a spectator in wonder at what Alan is doing an how he could be doing it. From the descriptions of how Shaffer  wants the horses, you can tell that this was meant to be a work of art.

Finally,  a certain staging and casting of a couple of years back solidifies its awesomeness. Because why wouldn’t you want Harry Potter stripping? (Even though that seriously is not the only reason to read/see this. It might influence your decision. but there is a lot lot more to this play than that).

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a book that is both f***ed up and fascinating.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads |

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