Pregnancy Pact And Broadway Connection
Strange School Pact and Broadway
The news from Gloucester Massachusetts about a group of teens who have created a pact to be pregnant raises many questions. First the headline from Reuters:
“A Massachusetts city is investigating an apparent teenage “pregnancy pact” that has at least 17 high-school girls expecting babies, four times more than last year, including many aged 16 or younger.”
What one wonders is could a show like “Spring Awakening” have helped this community long before it came to this pregnancy pact. While the influence of teen-stars tabloid pregnancies is no doubt part of the problem, could Broadway be part of the solution? A show like Spring Awakeningmay provide an outlet for parents and children to address the serious topic of teen pregnancy in a safe environment. Clearly, the consequences and significance of teenage pregnancy have been tabloided up and devalued by popular media, perhaps Broadway and the theatre in general is able to restore the importance and seriousness of this issue allowing parents and children a safe outlet to begin conversations about responsibility and teenage pregnancy. While shows like the soon-to-close Cry-Baby address the topic of teen pregnancy as well, one wonders if the candid and serious discussion Frank Wedekind intended when he wrote Spring Awakening in 1891 (the play upon which the current Broadway musical is based), is more urgently needed now more than ever.
–Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine, Broadway.tv
Tags: Cry-Baby, Pregnancy Pact, Spring Awakening
