A time to learn. A time to rebel. A time to love. A time to burn.

A group of teenagers - silenced and controlled by a censorious society - discovers a new world of feeling and freedom, with beautiful and devastating consequences.

Inspired by German playwright Frank Wedekind's once-banned and groundbreaking play from 1891, Spring Awakening tells a story of adolescent anarchy, set to one of the best-loved musical scores of the twenty-first century.

Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical opened in New York City in 2006, and London in 2009, and won eight Tony Awards and four Olivier Awards, including both prizes for Best New Musical.

This new edition of the complete book and lyrics - the first to be published in the UK - features four pages of colour photographs and exclusive bonus material by writers Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, and members of the original Broadway and West End casts: Aneurin Barnard, Jonathan Groff, Evelyn Hoskins, Lea Michele and Iwan Rheon. It was published alongside the first London revival at the Almeida Theatre in 2021, directed by Rupert Goold, which won the 2022 Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.

Reviews

'Here it is at last, the answer to one's prayers - a new musical, bursting with ambition and achievement... It's a blast'

* Telegraph *

'An absolute must-see and by far the best new musical in London for ages'

* Whatsonstage.com *

'With a ravishing rock score by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, this brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns, restores the mystery, the thrill to that shattering transformation that stirs in all our souls, some time around the age of thirteen'

* New York Times *

'Once in a generation, if we're lucky, an unexpected new musical comes along and changes everything. That is the thrilling achievement of Spring Awakening'

* New York Observer *

'Filled with powerful and poetic intelligence! The awakening here is not just to sexuality but to musical storytelling'

* New Yorker *

'A show that bristles with rawness, vitality and urgency. Sater's book and lyrics seem to capture from within the uniquely teenage feeling that every emotion is the most tempestuous, frightening, passionate or exciting one ever experienced'

* Variety *

'Exquisite... a musical masterpiece... I was blown away by [it]... dark and sophisticated... feels raw and dangerous and honest in a way few musicals really are... pure poetry, a howl of adolescent rage that sings like an angel, a teenage riot that floors you with its beauty'

* Time Out *

'A tidal wave of surging adolescent hormones... feels powerfully current'

* Evening Standard *

'An explosion of anarchic energy and pent-up frustration... throbs with passion and ingenuity... thrilling'

* iNews *

'A triumph, a piercing beam of light into the way that the adult world simultaneously ignores and suppresses young people... the themes of the piece speak with loud contemporary clarity... devastating... punchy and lyrically expressive... a triumphant achievement'

* Whatsonstage *

'Probably the best thing I've seen this year: it moves me; it chokes me; it thrills me'

* British Theatre Guide *


Awards
Winner of Crititcs' Circle Award for Best Musical 2022 and Olivier Award for Best New Musical 2010 and Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score 2007.



Book Information
ISBN 9781839040443
Author Steven Sater
Format Paperback
Page Count 132
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books