Generations, one of Houston's younger theater companies, has announced the two plays that will make up its season, including the U.S. regional premiere of Spring Awakening, the 2006 rock musical based on Frank Wedekind's play about sexuality and adolescence. The company will also perform ART, Yasmina Reza's 1994 comedy that explores the multiple meanings of friendship and art.
The plays will be performed in repertory in July.
Spring Awakening, directed by Generations' artistic director George Brock, is a cautionary tale of what can happen in a repressed society where young people do not get the most basic information about human sexuality. Wedekind's original play (subtitled A Children's Tragedy) was considered so shocking when it first premiered in 1891 that it has often been banned or censored.
ART, meanwhile, is directed by Stark Naked Theatre Company's artistic director Philip Lehl, and features a score by Episcopal High School student Hugh Zabriskie, who's also played his own compositions with the University of Houston jazz band.
ART will be performed July 14, 22, 23 and 28 at 8 p.m., July 17 and 31 at 7:30 p.m. and July 16, 24 and 30 at 2:30 p.m. Spring Awakening will be performed July 15, 16, 21, 29 and 30 at 8 p.m., July 17, 23 and 31 at 2:30 p.m. and July 24 at 7:30. All performances take place at Hamman Hall on the Rice University campus, 6100 Main St. For information, call 832-326-1045 or visit www.generationstheatre.com.