A student-produced production of Frank Wedekind’s “Spring Awakening” will have its last performance tonight.
The production is directed by Jon-Mark Ponder, a senior in theatre.
The original script was written more than 100 years ago and follows a group of teenagers as they grow up in a repressive society in a small town in Germany.
However, Ponder updated the script and set the play in America in the 1980s.
“It’s about them exploring different ideas, exploring sexuality, exploring desire, abuse and different things they have going on in their lives and trying to deal with them,” Ponder said.
Ponder said although the script was written in 1890, the themes of the play still seemed appropriate today.
“It struck me as extremely relevant to today’s culture, even though it was written over 100 years ago, and it just struck me how the more things change the more things stay the same,” Ponder said.
Daniel Ochoa, a senior in theatre, plays the role of Melchior, a 14-year-old boy.
“He is third in his class and a bit of a revolutionary, free-minded thinker,” Ochoa said. “He is basically a kid trying to figure things out for himself.”
Ponder said the play explores these teenagers as they struggle with growing up.
“Its just about kids trying to find out who they are and what happens naturally within them,” Ochoa said. “It’s basically just a work on society where the parents are kind of removed from the kids, and they are having to figure things out on their own.”
The production was entirely student produced, from the acting to the technical aspects of the show, and those involved said it served as a learning experience for those involved.
“It was so much fun,” Ponder said. “I learned a whole lot from the whole experience, and it was great to be able to have freedom with it and to be able to express myself through theatre and it was great getting everyone else on board and being able to inspire everyone else to create.”
Doing the entire production on their own also offered some challenges they didn’t expect to encounter..
“When there are faculty and staff behind you, you feel like you have a safety net,” Ochoa said. “This one we had to step up on our own, and I think Jon-Mark did a great job. I am really glad I had the opportunity to do this.”
The final performance of the show is tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Theatre Upstairs at the Telfair Peet Theatre.
Doors open at 7 p.m., admission is free and no tickets are being sold.
Seating is limited, so Ponder advises everyone to come early.
