SPRING AWAKENING to be Presented by DreamWrights Center for Community Arts & Weary Arts Group

DreamWrights Center for Community Arts, alongside WEARY ARTS GROUP, will present the iconic Tony Award Winning rock musical "Spring Awakening", running for two weekends from June 17 - June 26, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7 pm and 3 pm on Sunday. Under the direction of Deirdre and Gabriel Casey. vocal director Brady Bennett, and musical director Eli Weary, the dynamic young cast brings to life this Tony Award winning electric rock musical.

The musical explores classic themes of youthful adolescent and young adulthood, from romantic relationships to their position in the community, academic ranking, hormonal inclinations, and mental health struggles. Celebrating its 15th anniversary of the original Broadway run with a recently released documentary on HBO, "Spring Awakening" remains relevant to the struggles teens face today. An incredible parallel considering the original source material comes from a German play written in the 1880s. Proving that, no matter what era or decade of life you exist in, the enormous weight of responsibility put on no longer children-not quite adults is a universal struggle.

DreamWrights has launched an ongoing series of "Community Conversations" to engage with the community and community leaders by creating fruitful conversations surrounding the different themes and challenging subject matters of their productions. "Spring Awakening" touches upon several hot topics pertaining to suicide, sexual violence, and homosexuality. Following the Saturday, June 25th performance, there will be an in person conversation at the theatre, as a way to unpack and process these themes in a group. All are welcome to attend, regardless of attendance of that performance or any performance. A previous in person conversation occurred at the historic Voni B. Grimes Gym in York City, joined by the students of William Penn High School's "Wellness Wednesdays", a community group who's mission is to promote wellbeing in the community. Available to stream online is a prerecorded "Community Conversation", featuring panelists Philip Drayden, Youth Education Director at Crispus Attucks York; Pastor Joel Folkemer from Union Lutheran Church; Vicar Jonah Davis, Children, Youth, & Family Director & LGBTQIA+ Coordinator at Union Lutheran Church; Britney Brooks, Director of Community Engagement for Downtown York & York County Economic Alliance, Reverend Carla Christopher, Cultural Competency & Diversity Trainer, and Deirdre and Gabriel Casey, Directors and Choreographers of "Spring Awakening" at DreamWrights. To view that conversation, visit the DreamWrights Official YouTube channel.

Tickets for Spring Awakening are available for purchase online and at the door. The theatre will be open an hour before every performance, with guests encouraged to come early for live musical performances by local teen artists, refreshments, and concessions.

On display during the run of the show is the "I'm Fine." Art exhibit. Initiated by co-curators Carrie Breschi and Maureen Joyce in 2019, I'm fine. consists of a series of workshops where participants create ceramic masks that represent the outward "mask" each wears to portray, hide or minimize their emotions and mental health challenges. Public art installations and gallery exhibits, like the one on display, showcase the amazing masks and meaningful stories of the participants. The I'm fine. project is dedicated to Maureen and Kevin Joyce's son, Patrick, who completed his life in 2018 after struggling with mental illness. DreamWrights is proud to be able to partner with I'm Fine. to showcase the 230 masks created by York County community members and to help destigmatize the conversation surrounding mental health.

About DreamWrights Center for Community Arts

DreamWrights Center for Community Arts in York, Pennsylvania serves as an educational theatre and performing arts resource since 1997, and offers opportunities to build character for life. DreamWrights provides creative educational experiences through inclusive intergenerational performance and theatre arts programming. To learn more about how to participate in, or attend one of DreamWrights' upcoming productions, visit www.dreamwrights.org or find us on Facebook and Instagram.