#dynameg

[no1partyabbey-blog]

dynameg replied to your photo:This morning I felt like rubbish, so I wore my...

so coy. much smile. such eyeliner. j’approve!

I just snorted into my Irish breakfast tea.

[no1partyabbey-blog]

playlist title suggestion: Get Me A Job And Get Me Out Of This House

Designed to get you up and dancin’ out of the house and into a job.

I’m Not Down The Clash

Come On Eileen Dexys Midnight Runners

Waterfall The Stone Roses

Rebel Rebel David Bowie

I Feel Better Frightened Rabbit

Just Like Heaven The Cure

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For U2

Helplessness Blues Fleet Foxes

Roll With It Oasis

Wake Up Arcade Fire

[no1partyabbey-blog]

dynameg replied to your photo:Just came up with my first quiche recipe from...

i do not care for egg but i am very impressed well done you adult points for you

Thanks, boo. It actually tastes pretty heavenly? I'm very proud. Also got a bit fancy and threw in some brie.

[no1partyabbey-blog]

dynameg replied to your post:I just got home and my neighbor has this mad...

go and join him

I sort of want to, just to get close to the inflatable slide? But I don't know anyone over there? I've met my neighbor a couple of times in passing, and he and his wife seem very cool, but I don't think we're chummy enough to get down to "Apple Bottom Jeans" just yet (which is what they're blasting now).

[no1partyabbey-blog]

thewinterslushie replied to your post:Yoooooooooooo I’ve just accepted my dream job and...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Thank you so much, Lizzie!!! I am SO pumped.

dynameg replied to your post:Yoooooooooooo I’ve just accepted my dream job and...

YES YOU BEAUTY well done you little beast that’s great :D

Ahh, thank you, Meg, you darling. I'm so properly psyched about it! Eeeeep!

[no1partyabbey-blog]

dynameg replied to your post:I’ve decided I’m going to forgo teaching and grad...

i’ve decided i’m gonna do a thing called ‘pop up photos’ and basically just spend my life in conservatoires doing headshots for students who are about to graduate/start work

$$$$$

[absolutelysir]

Wanna read over my essay again? I'm super stuck.

Musicals have often been known to push boundaries and explore themes that other media perhaps would not have dared to; Showboat[1] for example, the first recognised musical and produced in 1927, explored racism and roles for women unlike anything before it, Rent[2]examined homosexuality and the AIDs crisis of the 1980s and, much more recently The Book of Mormon[3] investigated the Mormon faith and its inclusion in American society. If pushing boundaries is necessary for a musical to make a statement, then Spring Awakening: A New Musical[4], with its music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, jumps into the deep end of all themes taboo in American culture. With its main theme being sex, or more specifically teenage sex, Spring Awakening must have struck several thousand chords across the country after its debut on Broadway in 2006. Was the audience aware of how hard-hitting its storyline would be? Did they realise that its 19th Century storyline was a mirror image of the society they lived in currently? And if they were aware or they did realise, how did they respond?

It is important to note that the musical is not an original piece of work; the play it is based on was written in 1891 by a German, Frank Wedekind, whose aim was to criticise the sexually-oppressive nature of 19th Century Germany. The play was not then performed until 1906 under heavy censorship due to its content; in fact, its first run in English in New York City in 1917 under the title Spring Awakening: A Children’s Tragedy consisted of a single matinee performance before it was closed by authorities due to public outrage. Some critics even went so far as to dub the production as the “nastiest example of pruriency that has ever soiled our stage”[5], could this be because of a naïve horror they felt at the “pornographic content” of some of the scenes, or were they horrified at the similarities between the action that happened onstage and that of real life? Both, perhaps, as of course this fiasco was going on in the same decade as the beginnings of Feminism and a time in which virginity was expected of a woman before marriage. In any case, the (apparent) general consensus was negative but, for whatever reason, the fascination with the play did not end.  There were several revivals of the play throughout the 1900s, most of which were either completed under heavy censorship or banned entirely, all of which lead to the most successful adaptation to date: the American rock musical of 2006.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik began work on Spring Awakening back in February 1999 when they first conceived the idea of adapting it from the play by Wedekind. They were determined to create a piece where “the music was relevant to the culture at large”[6] so that they could “touch the troubled heart of youth around the world”[7]. For Sater in particular, this determination was in response to the Columbine shooting of 1999, in which two senior students killed twelve students and a teacher, and directly or indirectly injured a further twenty-seven people. Their reasoning behind the decision to choose rock music for a musical in which they retained the original setting can be found within the 1891 play itself. Sater explains that, “the original play is so full of the yearning and anguish and exhilaration of being young, that it struck [him] that the place that young people … have found release from, and expression of, those same longings has been through rock music”[8]. Many, if not most, critics would concur that this decision was key to the musical’s success, Geri Manus, for example, writes that “the dichotomy [between the setting and the music] is noticeable and gives the musical its edge”[9] and I would have to agree. That the score was “composed just for them”[10] is vital to the teens of America understanding the show’s core themes and meaning. Contrary to this popular view, though, Michael Billington said of the production in London that, “in Wedekind's play, the young are helpless in the face of adult barbarism: here they are empowered by music – which is good in principle, but kills the tragedy”[11] I disagree entirely; by having the empowering, modern music as a red herring of sorts the tragedy surrounding Moritz, Wendla and Melchior becomes even more powerful.

As previously mentioned, Spring Awakening delves into almost every single taboo subject prevalent in both 19th Century Germany and modern America; rape, child abuse, homosexuality, abortion, suicide, with many of these themes featuring in the news, addressed in presidential debates and in human and women’s rights debates and so on. Rape is possibly one of the biggest of these themes in the musical as it appears to affect multiple characters’ storylines. The song Dark I Know Well is full of subtext, in fact it is possibly because the song never explicitly mentions sexual abuse that it is so powerful in expressing the hurt caused by and grotesqueness of the situation. For example, the chorus of the song;

 You say all you want is just a kiss goodnight, Then you hold me and you whisper, “Child, the Lord won’t mind, It’s just you and me. Child, you’re a beauty”[12]

tells of a girl, Martha, whose father takes advantage of her in the worst way possible. By not actually saying it outright, as an audience we are called to imagine what transpired, giving an impression of understated horror especially at her father’s use of religious beliefs to justify his actions. Ilse then joins Martha in the song and at the microphone, another witness testifying to the same horror, thereby adding further weight to the argument; rape, that of an incest/child abusive nature, happens, and it happens to more people than you would think. To support this idea, and to introduce the idea of alienation, the lighting team then make the whole performance space dark save for Ilse and Martha’s faces showing just how isolated they are in their situations against the rest of their society.

Perhaps even more horrifying than the act itself and the number of rape victims of their age group that the show chooses to symbolise, two out of the five girls when in reality of the 12-17 years of age group a mere 7.6 out of 1000 girls were raped in America between 1999 and 2004, and an even smaller 4.1 from 2005 to 2010[13], is this idea of isolation and of the bystander culture that the musical represents. Martha tells us of her mother who “just smiles that smile- just like she never saw [her], just like she never saw [her]”[14], by repeating that last line twice Sater expresses through his lyrics just how hurtful it is to watch her own mother let her father take advantage of her and beat her. Pretending to not see the pain that her daughter goes through and by claiming that her father “will not be disobeyed”[15] is typical of bystander culture, of not standing up and protecting those who need it the most. And, in the same way as joining together for the final chorus showed how similar Martha and Ilse’s personal situations are, the previous scene shows how their society treated Ilse when news of what happened to her was made public;

Anna:               We must tell someone! Martha:            Anna, no! Anna:               But we must! Martha:            No, no, please! They’d throw me out for good! Thea:               Like what happened to Ilse, you mean? Wendla:           Remember! Anna:               But still… Martha:            Anna, no. (the utter degradation) Just look what’s become of Ilse, now! Living                        who knows where – with who knows who?![16]

Ilse was left to fend for herself without any help from her society and without any punishment for her father and unfortunately in modern day America this appears to still be the norm. The difference between the number of rapes that occur and the number of rapes that are reported is huge, according to RAINN over the past five years 60% of rapes have been unreported[17], and yet over half of the cases that are reported will be “dismissed before trial or result in an acquittal”[18] meaning that “98% of the victims of rape will never see their attacker caught, tried and imprisoned”[19]. This lack of prosecution is perhaps why women nowadays would not report such a crime to the authorities but in 19th Century Germany it would purely be the stigma that surrounds a woman who has been raped and the fear of being disowned or subjected to further abuse. Nevertheless, by exploring this theme of abandonment by society the audience of Spring Awakening would have their eyes opened to the gravity of the situation and hopefully would provoke some members to try and invoke change.

 In the 2012 United States elections the Republican Party caused outrage via several comments concerning rape, its “legitimacy” and of pregnancy borne of rape. Senator Todd Akin of Missouri spoke of unwanted pregnancy as such, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down”[20] some would say that the comment that followed this desiring the punishment of the rapist, not the child is a typically pro-life Republican view. The comment caused uproar throughout Northern America and the questions Akin sparked by it were those concerning the definition of rape. As of 2012, the new definition is: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim”[21]. What if, though, the victim said yes to an act she/he had no understanding of? Not of the act itself or the consequences? Could Wendla, lacking any form of sexual education, really consent to having sex with Melchior? The fact that she is underage already has their time in the hay-loft under the brand of statutory rape, but there is a possibility that Melchior, knowing what sex is and knowing that Wendla does not and asking it of her anyway, changes the type of rape from statutory to forcible. Especially as before she actually says the word “yes” Melchior has already ignored several pleas for him to stop; “No- wait- no”, “wait- stop”, “Melchi- no”, kissed her and put his hand inside her undergarments. There is also an element of guilt tripping on Melchior’s part by consistently questioning her reasoning for not wanting to be intimate with him, belittling her responses and pushing onwards anyway. In the original play there is no uncertainty surrounding the nature of the event; it is rape, and before the musical hit Broadway it was also rape, albeit indistinct, and yet, sometime in between off-Broadway and Broadway itself, “a sex scene … [had] been thoroughly softened from confused ambiguity into a consensual act”[22]. Clearly the taboo quality of the subject matter had made producers nervous mid-transfer and to rectify the situation the decision must have been made that by changing it there would be less of a risk of offending members of the audience, or worse, critics. Unfortunately by changing such a powerful event so significantly by “softening” it blurs the lines between right and wrong, rape and consensual sex. What the producers must not have realised is that “staging and thereby confronting rape is not criminal or offensive. Pretending rape isn't rape is”[23]. This is an issue that is so prevalent in today’s Western culture with songs going viral like “Blurred Lines” and the no-means-yes approach to consensual sex. It is no wonder that rape cases go unreported when victims are made to feel like they were “asking for it” or that they were only pretending that they did not want it.

The fact that Wendla conceives a child by Melchior in this moment is pivotal and her discovery of it is important in the questionable rape controversy. In the early scenes of the musical Wendla is told by her mother;

Frau Bergman:            For a woman to bear a child, she must… In her own personal way, she must… love her husband. Love him, as she can love only him. Only him… She must love– with her whole… heart. There. Now, you know everything.[24]

This non-truth, a comedic element at the time, serves to be the reason why Wendla knows so little about sex and is reflected in her discovery of the truth and the truly innocent side of her is shown, “a child?! But, I’m not married!”[25]. She goes on to express that her naïve desire was purely to be with him, “to hold him and be close to him”[26]. I believe that had she known what it was she was saying yes to, what the consequences of saying yes could be she would not have consented. By using her mother’s explanation as light entertainment, and reflecting the comedic element in Wendla’s response only serves to make the situation more upsetting on Wendla’s part. As an audience we feel for her and have our own desire to protect her if we could, or, at least, do a better job of parenting than her mother did; perhaps another reason for Sater and Sheik’s creation of the musical?

The song that follows this discovery, “Whispering”, portrays Wendla’s sorrow at her plight, its delicate piano introduction draws us into her internal dilemma and the haunting accompaniment that waxes and wanes throughout the song tugs on the audience’s heart strings. The most upsetting lyrics of the song can be found in the first chorus in which she compares the breaking of the news of her pregnancy with that of a funeral;

See the father bent in grief, The mother dressed in mourning. Sister crumples, And the neighbours grumble. The preacher issues warnings…[27]

I believe that the most poignant lyric in this chorus is the penultimate line, “the neighbours grumble”, as this is what Frau Bergman is more worried about than her daughter’s health. It is her fear of what society will think of her that eventually kills her daughter and I do not think that a message could be more potent in Western society. Fear of what others think about you is a crippling way of thinking for anyone but with Sater’s express reason for the show being to “touch the troubled heart of youth” I believe he is trying to make an example of Frau Bergman to ignore what society at large thinks of you and to do right by yourself and those closest to you.

[THEN MAYBE ANOTHER SHORT PARAGRAPH OR MAYBE I'LL JUST GO OVER THE ABORTION BIT MORE AND THEN A CONCLUSION BUT I'M NOT SURE WHAT I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO SAY HELP I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY]

[1] Showboat

[2] Rent

[3] Book of Mormon

[4] Spring Awakening

[5] NEW YORK CLIPPER

[6] Interview with Steven Sater

[7] Interview with Steven Sater

[8] Interview with Steven Sater

[9] GREEN REVIEW

[10] GREEN REVIEW

[11] http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/04/spring-awakening

[12] SONG

[13] BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS

[14] libretto

[15] libretto

[16] libretto

[17] http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates

[18] https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=145360 THE PDF FILE response to rape

[19] https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=145360

[20] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/us/politics/todd-akin-provokes-ire-with-legitimate-rape-comment.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1397818965-m21s34NtfuXml5YTt6pVig

[21] http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/attorney-general-eric-holder-announces-revisions-to-the-uniform-crime-reports-definition-of-rape

[22] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/theater/reviews/11spri.html

[23] http://www.hotreview.org/articles/rudeawakening.htm

[24] libretto

[25] libretto

[26] libretto

[27] SONG

[no1partyabbey-blog]

Whaaaaat. Was ist das? (Go England! I’d say “go Man City,” but I’m still remarkably bitter about today, so. Bleh.)