Bricker
December 15, 2015, 5:59pm
61
MaxTheVool:
Interesting. I’ve seen the show four times (twice the “official” touring company, once the Deaf West production in LA that has since moved to Broadway as a revival, once a student production at UC Davis) and that scene has never struck me as a violation. That is, to the extent that the show is making a point there, it’s not “Melchior is doing bad things to Wendla”, it’s that “Wendla is WAY more ignorant than she should be because society absolutely refuses to actually teach her basic biology, so she doesn’t really know what she’s getting into”. Obviously “doesn’t really know what she’s getting into” is tantamount to “can’t give informed consent” from a 21st century perspective, so I guess YMMV.
It does look like they changed the scene – as I remembered the review, the original staging certainly included that basic ignorance of biology and hormones on her part, but in addition had her saying no, because she was confused and scared of her own feeling of loss of control, and Melchior (swept up in his own rush of teenage hormones and ignorance) forcing the issue, with – as you point out – neither of them aware of the “no means no” concept of our modern view of consent.
MaxTheVool:
Since this thread has turned to talk of Pippin, did anyone here see the recent Broadway revival? I thought it was absolutely fabulous, probably the best actual theatrical production I’ve ever seen.
And I’m really enjoying the cast recording… not quite sure if I like it more than the OCR, very hard to compare.Bricker , listen to Spring Awakening , thank me later.
At MilliCal’s insistence, all three of us are going to see Spring Awakening at Christmas time.
Bricker:
It does look like they changed the scene – as I remembered the review, the original staging certainly included that basic ignorance of biology and hormones on her part, but in addition had her saying no, because she was confused and scared of her own feeling of loss of control, and Melchior (swept up in his own rush of teenage hormones and ignorance) forcing the issue, with – as you point out – neither of them aware of the “no means no” concept of our modern view of consent.
Obviously Wendla doesn’t know how babies are made, but she does consent to what Melchior wants to do.
From the script:
(Melchior reaches inside Wendla’s undergarments, strokes her gently.)
WENDLA: Now, there - now, that’s…
MELCHIOR: Yes…?
WENDLA: Yes.
Don’t do what MaxTheVool ’s mother did, and attempt to empathize with the parents! They’re meant to be faceless, generic “adults”.
Evita