Steven Sater on ‘The transports of memory’ (video)

With its blunt depictions of adolescent sexuality and startling mixture of contemporary expression and fin de siècle restraint, Spring Awakening, by Tony Award-winning playwright Steven Sater, is among the most influential, unexpected and beloved Broadway shows of recent years.

This fall, Washington University in St. Louis’ Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences, led by director Andrea Urice, presented Spring Awakening for six performances in Edison Theatre. In conjunction with the performances, Sater, a WUSTL alumnus, returned to campus to deliver the PAD’s 12th Helen Clanton Morrin Lecture.

We sat down to discuss adolescence, theater and “the hearts of the characters.”