The cast of Spring Awakening celebrates their return to the stage at a Spring Awakening rehearsal, Monday, April 12, 2021, at the Patty Strickel-Harrison. Photo courtesy of Mikkie Lamas
With rising heart rates and sweat sliding down their spines, the cast members of Texas State s spring musical production, Spring Awakening, is exploring sex and sexuality while singing through masks, dancing across distances and adapting its timeline after a cast member tested positive for COVID-19.
Instead of being stilted by the university s COVID-19 regulations, the show s artistic team used masks and distance as part of its design. This shifted the lens of the show, causing what traditionally is a show dripping with on-stage sex and visual intimacy to mold into an exploration of sexual repression and separation.