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''Spring Awakening'' ((ドイツ語:Frühlings Erwachen)) (also translated as ''Spring's Awakening'' and ''The Awakening of Spring'') is the German dramatist Frank Wedekind's first major play and a seminal work in the modern history of theatre.〔Banham (1998, 1189) and Boa (1987, 26).〕 It was written sometime between autumn 1890 and spring 1891, but did not receive its first performance until 20 November 1906 when it premiered at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin under the direction of Max Reinhardt. It carries the sub-title ''A Children's Tragedy''.〔Bond and Bond-Pablé (1993, 1).〕 The play criticises the sexually oppressive culture of nineteenth century (''Fin de siècle'') Germany and offers a vivid dramatisation of the erotic fantasies that it breeds.〔Boa (1987, 26).〕 Due to the controversial subject matter (puberty, sexuality, rape, child abuse, homosexuality, suicide, abortion), the play has often been banned or censored.〔(Spring Awakening Sex Theatre ). TheGuardian 2009〕〔(The Stories Behind Some of History’s Most Controversial Theatrical Productions )〕 It was first staged in English in 1917 in New York City. This performance was threatened with closure when the city's Commissioner of Licenses claimed that the play was pornographic, but a New York trial court issued an injunction to allow the production to proceed.〔Bentley (2000, viii).〕 One matinee performance was allowed for a limited audience. There was a 1955 Off-Broadway production at the Provincetown Playhouse. In 1963, the play was produced in England, but for only two nights and in censored form. It was also produced in 1978 by Joseph Papp, directed by Liviu Ciulei. A musical adaptation of the play opened off Broadway in 2006 and subsequently moved to Broadway, where it garnered eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The play was adapted for television as ''The Awakening of Spring'' in 2008, under the direction of Arthur Allan Seidelman. It starred Jesse Lee Soffer, Javier Picayo, and Carrie Wiita. The play was adapted into a 1929 Czech-German silent film ''Spring Awakening'' directed by Richard Oswald. A free, modern version of the play (written by English playwright Anya Reiss), by Headlong toured Britain in the spring of 2014. ==Characters== * Wendla Bergmann: A girl who turns fourteen at the beginning of the play. She begs her mother to tell her the truth about how babies are born but is never given sufficient facts. In the middle of Act Two, Melchior rapes Wendla in a hayloft. She conceives Melchior's child without any knowledge of reproduction. She dies after an unsafe, botched abortion. * Melchior Gabor: A fourteen-year-old boy. Melchior is an atheist who, unlike the other children, knows about sexual reproduction. He writes his best friend Moritz an essay about sexual intercourse, which gets him expelled from school after the suicide of his friend and the discovery of the essay. His parents send him to a reformatory after his father discovers he has got Wendla pregnant. * Moritz Stiefel: Melchior’s best friend and classmate, a student who is traumatized by puberty and his sexual awakenings. Moritz does not understand the "stirrings of manhood" and changes happening to him. A poor student due to his lack of concentration and constant pubertal distractions, he passes the midterm exams at the beginning of the play. However, Moritz is ultimately unable to cope with the harshness of society, and when his plea for help from Fanny Gabor (Melchior’s mother) is declined, he commits suicide. * Ilse: A carefree and promiscuous childhood friend of Moritz, Melchior, and Wendla. She ran away from home to live a Bohemian life as a model and lover of various painters. Ilse only appears in two scenes throughout the show, and is the last person to whom Moritz speaks before he commits suicide. She finds the gun he used and hides it. * Hanschen (Hänschen) and Ernst: Two friends and classmates of Melchior and Moritz, who discover they are gay. Towards the end of the play, they confess their love for one another. (In the English translation of the play by Jonathan Franzen, Hanschen is called Hansy, as "Hänschen" is literally the German diminutive form of the name "Hans".) * Otto, Georg, Lämmermeier and Robert: Schoolmates of Melchior and Moritz. They laugh at Moritz and tease him when he threatens to shoot himself. Otto once had a sexual dream about his own mother, 17-year-old Lämmermeier still does not have sexual thoughts at all, and Georg fantasizes about his busty piano instructor, Frau Grossebustenhalter. * Thea and Martha: The schoolgirl friends of Wendla. Martha has a crush on Moritz and is physically abused by her mother and father. Thea is attracted to Melchior. * Frau Bergmann: Wendla's mother, who seems to not want her child to grow up too quickly and refuses to tell her daughter the truth about reproduction and sexuality. * Fanny Gabor: Melchior's mother. Liberally minded and very loving of her son, she protests sending Melchior to a reformatory as disciplinary action only until she discovers that he raped Wendla. * Herr Gabor: Melchior’s father. * Knochenbruch: The cruel and oppressive school headmaster who expels Melchior from school upon learning of the essay Melchior wrote for Moritz. * Knuppeldick, Zungenschlag, Fliegentod, Hungergurt, Sonnenstich: Teachers at Melchior’s school. * Pastor Kahlbauch: The town’s religious leader, who leads the sermon at Moritz’s funeral. * The Masked Man: A mysterious, fate-like stranger who appears in the final scene of the play to offer Melchior hope for redemption. Portrayed on stage by Wedekind himself when the play was first performed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spring Awakening (play)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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