~

STEVEN SATER SPRING AWAKENING

THEA: To Greta's wedding?! (Music begins-an innocent uptempo feel. The Girls turn
MARTHA: Because she's marrying that forest inspector? out-glistening in girl-group light:)
WENDLA: Mama felt it was a little improper.
ANNA: But, they're decking the entire sanctuary in orchids and WENDLA:
chrysanthemums! ... In the midst of this nothing, this miss of a life,
WENDLA: Mama said no. Still, there's this one thing-just to see you go by.

(Anna and Thea exchange a look.) MARTHA:

It's almost like lovin'-sad as that is.
ANNA: I certainly hope your mama approves the man I marry.
THEA: And the man I marry! THEA:
WENDLA (Teasing): Well, we all know who Thea longs to marry! May not be cool, but it's so where I live.
MARTHA: Melchior Gabor!
THEA (uGimme a break"): And who doesn't? ANNA:
ANNA (Still playful): He is rather handsome ... It's like I'm your lover-or, more like your ghost-
WENDLA: SO wonderful. I spend the day wonderin' what you do, where you go ...
MARTHA (Her secret crush): But not so wonderful as that sad
soulful sleepyhead, Moritz Stiefel ... THEA:
ANNA AND THEA: Moritz Stiefel!? I try and just kick it, but then, what can I do?
THEA: How can you even compare them? Melchi Gabor, he's We've all got our junk, and my junk is you.
such a radical. You know what the whisper is?
GIRLS:
(All the Girls lean in, eager to hear.) See us winter walkin'-after a storm.
It's chill in the wind-but it's warm in your arms.
He doesn't believe in anything. Not in God. We stop, all snow blind-may not be true.
But we've all got our junk, and my junk is you.
(The Girls gasp in wonder.)
(The lights shift, revealing Georg at his piano. Fraulein Grosse­
Not in Heaven. bustenhalter hovers.)

(Another gasp.) FRAULElN GROSSEBUSTENHALTER: Well done, Georg. And now,

the Prelude in C Minor ...
Not in a single thing in this world.
(Georg begins playing Bach's Prelude. As he does, Fraulein
(The Girls utter a final, collective sigh.) Grossebustenhalter touches his hand. He lets out an illicit
sigh-a moment of private bliss. The lights shift, revealing
ANNA: They say he's the best, in everything. Latin, Greek, Hanschen seated in his bathroom, wearing his nightshirt. He
Trigonometry ... pulls a reproduction of Correggio's 10 from his pocket. His
TH EA: The best part is: he doesn't care a whit about any of it ... free hand sneaks under his nightshirt.)

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 ~- .
STEVEN SATER SPRING AWAKENING

HANSCHEN (To 10/Desdemona): Have you prayed tonight, HERR RILOW: Back to bed.
Desdemona? You don't look like you're praying, darling­
lying there, contemplating the coming bliss ... (Hanschen does not move.)

(A knocking on the door. Hanschen freezes.)

Son?
HANSCHEN: One minute.
HERR RILOW: Hanschen, you all right?
HANSCHEN: My stomach again, Father. But I'll be fine.
HERR RILOW: Yes?
(Hanschen waits, listening. Herr Rilow goes. Hanschen redoubles
his exertions.)
HANSCHEN: Fine.
HERR RILOW: Well, then.
One last kiss. Those soft, white thighs those girlish
breasts ... 0, those cruel cruel knees .
(Herr Rilow goes. Slowly and steadily, Hanschen begins to
masturbate-building steam as the scene continues.)
(Fraulein Grossebustenhalter claps, interrupting Georg's playing.)
HANSCHEN (To 10/Desdemona): Darling, don't think I take your
murder lightly. The truth is, I can hardly bear to think of FRAULEIN GROSSEBUSTENHALTER: Repetez, s'il vous plait.
the long nights ahead ... But it's sucking the marrow from
my bones, seeing you lie there. Motionless. Staring at me, (Georg turns out and sings. We enter the world of his fantasy.)
so innocently. One of us must go-it's you or me.
GEORG:

(The lights shift ... Fraulein Grossebustenhalter sternly Well, you'll have to excuse me, 1 know it's so off,
interrupts Georg's playing.) 1 love when you do stuff that's rude and so wrong.

FRAULEIN GROSSEBUSTENHALTER: No, no! Georg, please. Again. (Fraulein Grossebustenhalter rips open her bodice, exposing
And this time, bring out the left hand. her bustier. Georg beckons her onto his lap and fondles her.
As he does, Hanschen turns out, in a world of his own:)
(Fraulein Grossebustenhalter touches his hand again-double
the bliss. HANSCHEN:
Hanschen dutifully switches hands-to the left.) 1go up to my room, turn the stereo on,
Shoot up some you in the "you" of some song.
HANSCHEN: Darling, why-why-do you press your knees
together? Even now, on the brink of eternity? Don't you (The Girls surround Hanschen, dancing. Oblivious to their
see it's your terrible chastity that's driving me to ... charms, he only has eyes-and thumbs-for his 10. The Boys
join in, as a vocal chorus:)
(A knocking at the bathroom door. Hanschen freezes.)
GIRLS, MORITZ, GEORG AND OTTO:
HERR RILOW: Hanschen, that's enough in there. 1 lie back, just driftin; and play out these scenes.
HANSCHEN: Yes, sir. 1 ride on the rush-all the hopes, all the dreams . ..

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L.
 STEVEN SATER
SPRING AWAKENING

ANNA:
(Melchior sits up. Moritz enters, looking pale and agitated.)
I may be neglectin'the things I should do.
We've all got our junk, and my junk is you.
MELCHIOR: Moritz? ...
MORITZ: Sorry I'm so late. I yanked on a jacket, ran a brush
BOYS AND GIRLS:
through my hair, and dashed like some phantom to get
See, we still keep talkin'-after you're gone.
here.
You're still with me then-feels so good in my arms.
MELCHIOR: You slept through the day? ...
They say you go blind-maybe it's true.
MORITZ ("Yes"): I'm exhausted, Melchi. I was up till three in
But we've all got our junk, and my junk is you . ..
the morning-reading that essay you gave me, till I couldn't
see straight.
(As the song reaches a climax, so does Hanschen.)
MELCHIOR: Sit. Let me roll you a smoke.

It's like, we stop time. What can I do­

(Melchior rolls Moritz a cigarette.)
We've all got our junk, and my junk is you.

And my junk is you­ MORITZ: Look at me-I'm trembling. Last night I prayed like
You-you-you. Christ in Gethsemane: "Please, God, give me Consumption
and take these sticky dreams away from me."
MELCHIOR: With any luck, he'll ignore that prayer.
MORITZ: Melchi, I can't focus-on anything. Even now, it

SCENE 4 seems like ... Well, I see, and hear, and feel, quite clearly.
And yet, everything seems so strange ...
Evening. Melchior's study. A lamp burning on the table. Melchior MELCHIOR: But all those illustrations I gave you-didn't they

sits alone, writing in his journal. help illuminate your dreams?

MORITZ: They only multiplied everything ten times! Instead of

MELCHIOR (Reading aloud as he writes): 16 October. The ques­ merely seeing Stockings, now I'm plagued by Labia Majora
tion is: Shame. What is its origin? And why are we hounded and­
by its miserable shadow?
Does the mare feel Shame as she couples with a stallion? (Frau Gabor enters with tea.)
Are they deaf to everything their loins are telling them,
until we grant them a marriage certificate? I think not. FRAU GABOR: Well, here we are, with tea. Herr Stiefel, how are
To my mind, Shame is nothing but a product of Educa­ you?
tion. Meanwhile, old Father Kaulbach still blindly insists, MORITZ: Very well, thank you, Frau Gabor.
i,
in every single sermon, that it's deeply rooted in our sin­ FRAU GABOR (Skeptical): Yes?
ful Human Nature. Which is why 1 now refuse to go to MELCHIOR (Busting him): Just think, Mama. Moritz was up,
Church- reading all through the night.
FRAU GABOR (From off): Melchior?
MORITZ: Uh, conjugating Greek.
MELCHIOR: Yes, Mama?
FRAU GABOR: You must take care of yourself, Moritz. Surely,
FRAU GABOR (From off): Moritz Stiefel to see you.
your health is more important than Ancient Greek.

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