Holy Cross Fenwick Theatre Presents Alum-Directed Spring Awakening

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Fenwick Theatre and the theatre department at the College of the Holy Cross will present Frank Wedekind’s 1891 tragedy Spring Awakening on November 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. in Fenwick Theatre (O’Kane Hall) at the College of the Holy Cross. The production is directed by Margarett Perry ’86, now a professional New York-based director. Ms. Perry and her husband, the writer/actor Brian Dykstra have adapted their version of the play from a variety of translations as well as the original German text. Their adaptation was developed at the Lark Play Development Center in New York. Tickets are $7 for members of the Holy Cross community and $10 for the general public.

Wedekind’s extremely controversial play marked the beginnings of theatrical Expressionism. It was also roundly condemned and banned for decades. The show was not performed in an unexpurgated version in English until 1972. Potent and affecting, the play is a chronicle of adolescence and sexual awakening in a society that suppresses information out of a need to preserve the moral order. Wedekind challenged the moral code of the Victorian age, and over a century later, society still struggles with the same issues. As the religious right is threatened by the perceived decay of "family values," it works diligently to protect its children from societal permissiveness. Perry and Dykstra set their adaptation in 1953 America, when American youth were caught in the conflict between Eisenhower respectability and self-satisfaction, and their own inchoate longings stirred up by a new sense of freedom, a volatile mixture that would explode only a year later with the discovery of rock ’n’ roll.

Perry received her MFA in directing from Southern Methodist University, and is currently serving as a guest lecturer at Holy Cross, teaching both acting and directing. Perry most recently directed the critically-acclaimed, off-Broadway production, Brian Dykstra: Cornered & Alone; The Retreat From Moscow at the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio; and Welcome To Arroyo’s at The Lark, Queens Theatre in the Park and the New York Hip Hop Theater Festival. Perry recently left her position as producing director of Access Theater, where for five years she directed, produced, and developed world premieres of new plays. She now serves as an artistic fellow at The Lark Play Development Center where she produces the Playwright’s Workshop with renowned playwright Arthur Kopit.

Another notable "guest artist" is involved with the production. Until this fall, Daniel Schap was a student at Loyola University New Orleans, a sister Jesuit college to Holy Cross. When Hurricane Katrina rendered Loyola unable to function for their fall semester, Holy Cross joined other Jesuit colleges across the nation in enrolling displaced students. Schap is one of Loyola students now studying at Holy Cross. After participating in open auditions, Schap, a sophomore, was cast as the second male lead in Spring Awakening, joining a cast of 23 Holy Cross students.

The set and lights are designed by William J. Rynders, professor in the theatre department, and costumes by Kurt S. Hultgren, costume designer in the theatre department.

For more information or for press tickets, please contact Joe Mader in the theatre department at 508-793-3490 or jmader@holycross.edu.