REBECCA HALE
Reverb Editor
Last weekend, President Virginia Horvath’s backyard was transformed into a traveling theater for the Performing Arts Company’s production of “Spring Awakening: A Children’s Tragedy,” a play written in 1890 by Frank Wedekind.
“Spring Awakening” is a play which aims to reveal a certain exercise of power (in this case, of adults over children) that was evident at the time of the play’s creation. The children in this play are portrayed as powerless against their parents’ wishes. This goes to show that a protective parent can actually harm his or her children more by not educating them on topics such as sex.
Most of the characters in the play are children around the age of fourteen, which was an interesting sight to see portrayed by college students. The actors made this fact evident, but not obvious, more through their mannerisms than their speech or appearance.
Students and spectators arrived wielding blankets and warm clothes to combat the cold in order to see this student-produced show. Two tents had been set up, one with rows of chairs underneath for the audience to sit in, and one that covered the makeshift “stage area.”
The set was simple and was comprised of multiple levels of white sheets hung on wires that stretched across the stage area. To go along with the simple black-and-white theme, the characters were also all dressed in black and white clothing. This fits the play well, considering the time period in which it was written.
The white sheets also made for a dynamic lighting design, despite the venue being outside. Portable stage lights were set up on the sides of the set and behind the audience, as well as behind the set itself.
Throughout the performance, lights were used to create shadows in a unique way. Some scenes involved characters being portrayed behind the curtains, so the lights from behind shone through the curtains to portray the silhouette of the characters
One flaw in the setup was that, due to the flat lawn the tent was on, the chairs were not set up on an incline, which made it difficult for anyone not sitting in the front row to see the stage.
It was also very cold to sit through, though the audience was advised ahead of time to bring blankets and to dress accordingly. Still, by the time the show ended around 10 p.m., many were thoroughly chilled and shivering. If only Fredonia weather could cooperate, productions like these would be much more practical.
The text of “Spring Awakening” is beautiful and very lyrical, and includes many monologues. This made the play hard to understand at times, as it became easy to get lost in the poeticism of the script, rather than focusing on the metaphors and true meanings of the lines.
Still, it was amazing to see the flawless delivery of this difficult text by all the actors. Jay Romero, who played Moritz, one of the main characters, truly encapsulated his character’s likeness, delivering a powerful and emotional performance. This was evident in a late scene in which Moritz breaks down in tears and sobs, while delivering a moving monologue.
Despite the dark nature of the play, the comedic relief portions had the audience in hysterics. One scene was acted out as if it were a trial against the young Melchior by the school administration. The actors stayed behind the curtains to hide their faces and distorted their voices into hilarious cackles and bellows. Kiernan Matts’ performance during this scene was particularly entertaining and definitely lightened the mood of the otherwise depressing scene.
All in all, it was clear that a lot of hard work and effort was put into “Spring Awakening,” and the end result was a stellar performance in a new and exciting venue.