What piece of modernist theatre better embodies the idea of rebellion and sexuality better than Frank Wedekind's "Spring Awakening"? A bold and daring play even for 2014, but especially so back in 1891 when it was written. Tackling teenage angst, rebellion, and blossoming sexuality amidst puritanical and tyrannical ideals with an expressionistic flair, this play still makes a compelling statement today. The play focuses mostly on two 14 year olds, Melchior Gabor and Wendla Bergman, as they experiment and discover their sexuality with one another. Wendla is very naïve about sex whereas Melchior has done his reading and is knowledgeable. Their relationship culminates in them having sex and Wendla becoming pregnant. At the end of the play Wendla dies of a forced abortion and leaves Melchior grief stricken.
Written in 2000, Naomi Wallace's "The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek" provides an modern day compliment to Wedekind's play. Similarly tackling ideas of sexuality, rebellion, and repression amidst a soul-crushing environment and era, and also presented in a somewhat expressionistic style. Set during the Dust Bowl in the American Mid-West, "Trestle" follows the tumultuous relationship between 15 year old Dalton and 17 year old tomboy Pace as they prepare to play a deadly game of chicken against an oncoming train. In "Trestle" their relationship is somewhat the inverse of Wendla and Melchior's in "Spring Awakening." Pace is older and more bleakly realistic about sex and the world they live in whereas Dalton is younger, naïve and still filled with optimism that he will go to college and lead a "normal" life. Dalton just wants a normal relationship with a girl, any girl, but Pace challenges his notions of normalcy and breaks them. Their relationship culminates in Pace guiding Dalton through masturbation with Dalton imagining he is in the receptive position and Pace imagining she is in the penetrative positions. Neither of them touch during this scene. The audience finds out near the end of the play that when Pace and Dalton finally played their game of chicken by running across the trestle towards the oncoming train, Pace tripped and jumped off the side of the track killing herself.
I propose that Cornish produce both plays in repertory together at the Cornish Playhouse Studio. Starring the same actor and actress in the two lead roles of both productions. Both of these plays explore ideas of submissive and dominant positions, who is the teacher and who is the student, both in harsh, restrictive environments. In "Spring Awakening" Melchior teaches Wendla about her body and sex, In "Trestle" Pace teaches Dalton about the bleak reality awaiting him and how to break out of it. Having the same two performers play the lead roles in each production would highlight these relationships to those who see both productions. As an audience they would see the actor who plays Melchior/Dalton play both a dominant role and a very submissive one, with the inverse for the actress playing Wendla/Pace.
Neither are technically demanding pieces and both could be produced simply with minimal sets, props, and costumes. Dynamic lighting and sound design will aid the performers to tell the stories, but scenic elements will be kept to near nonexistent, instead utilizing the sheer size and blackness of the space. Doing so would highlight the emotional isolation the characters face but also allow the story and themes to come to the forefront of both pieces and hopefully spark dialogue between audience members who see both plays.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening_(play)
Unfortunately there is no neat and tidy summary of "Trestle" on the internet so here a few links to an analysis and some reviews of the piece.
Absence in Naomi Wallace's The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek
http://home.pon.net/kashimba/trestle.html
http://www.wbez.org/blog/onstagebackstage/2011-08-26/dueling-critics-get-tense-over-trestle-pope-lick-creek-91035
No comments:
Post a Comment