welcome back

Sanquinius stood atop a shallow hill of pale rock and watched the sun drop towards the distant horizon. … ...

A smile grew on his lips as he sensed his brother's approach, but he did not turn to look at Horus. 'There is a question that concerns me greatly,' said Sanguinius with false gravity. 'Oh?' the lord of the Luna Wolves halted at his side. 'That sounds troubling.'

Neither of them paid heed to it, but directly below in the shallow canyon beneath the rise, many of the common soldiers, prisoners, even their own legionaries, paused to watch. It was a site to see a single primarch in the flesh; to behold a pair of these gene-forged transhumans at once was something that many of those watching would remember for as long as they lived. For many different reasons.

'How can I ease your disquiet, brother?' Horus went on, affecting a serious mien. The angel eyed him. 'If the grey had done as you asked, if it had set the thralls free… Tell me, would you really have let the aliens go?' Horus nodded, as if the answer were obvious. 'I am a man of my word. I would have let them leave the planet's surface, make for orbit…' He cocked his head. 'But when they met your ships up there, well…' He gave a small shrug, the huge shoulders of his battle plate exaggerating the motion. 'You've never been as agreeable as I'. The smile became a moment of laughter. Sanguinius gave a slight, mocking bow. 'So true. I must content myself with merely being the better warrior.' 'Don't make me pluck those wings,' Horus retorted. 'Perish the thought!' said Sanguinius. 'Without them I'd only be as handsome as you are.' 'That would be tragic,' Horus agreed. The moment of levity passed and in the next exchange they had gone from the easy humor of a pair of siblings to the manor of two allied generals.

- Melchior and Moritz’s relationship borders on homoerotic. Perhaps this is confirmation bias as someone who is gay myself, however the way in which Moritz in particular talks about Melchior is the closest to desire we see in his character. Melchior is who he talks about sex with, Melchior is who he asks to unbutton his shirt, Melchior is who he thinks of when he is about to die by suicide. At the very least I wish that their closeness (whether interpreted as platonic or romantic) would be expanded upon further.

- There exists a contrast between Ernst and Moritz in the play where they are both the lowest performers in their class (and thus are fighting for the chance of promotion), and it’s highlighted that Ernst comes from a supportive family (not in regards to his sexuality) in that he would be able to find another occupation and lead a relatively normal life even if he failed, whereas Moritz’s family is so unsupportive of him that he internalizes this and wishes he had never been born. I think diving deeper into this would allow for Moritz’s backstory to be developed a bit more, and also perhaps providing some context as to why Ernst longs for a simple life in the countryside.

- Ilse provides so much information about the artist colony with which she is staying with (my translations are different, but all names of the group are tangential to sex, eg. Orgasmius), and I believe that this would translate far better if we actually got to see what her life was like both in the bohemian group where she was put into a lot of danger, and also what decision led her to running away form home in the first place. Perhaps it is implied that she has gone through some of the similar abuse to the likes of Martha.

- Although Thea does not have as many lines as other characters in the play, her character is expanded upon further in the original play as opposed to the musical, and especially regarding her own family’s control over her body and gender presentation I think that an exploration of her character (as written in the play version) would serve the central themes of the play both about loss of innocence as well as control (especially when added onto the loss of autonomy Martha, and later Wendla face regarding their bodies)

- This is a minor critique however I would love to see more expansion of Hanschen’s character. I know im biased but I would like some modern portrayal of spring awakening where he is shown to be less of a pompous asshole. That is not to say he’s not grossly overeducated and arrogant, however it is also clear that he has a deep concern for his friends (Ernst, Moritz, Georg), especially Ernst. This concern and care for Ernst which is demonstrated early into the play (in which he asks whether Ernst was going to move up a grade) would better set the stage for the vineyard scene at the end of the show.