Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Wake-Up Call

Sex isn’t always sexy, as the teenage characters of Spring Awakening know full well. Penned by Frank Wedekind in the early 1890s, the play captures the confusion, fear and shame linked to dawning sexuality. But, says Red Stage Theatre Company director Maryna Harrison, “One of the trickiest and most delicate things about [the play] is that it’s very, very funny.” Scenes about sex and masturbation are “comical and tragic all at the same time,” says actor and Vermont native Kohler McKenzie. In Red Stage’s production, adult characters are portrayed via video projections, further depicting the 2-D world of grownups. With such radical themes, Awakening has often been banned, but McKenzie argues that its message matters — especially today. “We live in a society and a time where we try to protect our children,” he says. “There’s a point where you protect information so much that you give no information.”