I was looking at purchasing a script and one cover says "Spring's Awakening". Is is the same thing as Spring Awakening?
They should be identical. It depends on the translator as to which title gets used, as often happens in these cases where multiple translations exist. The main one that seems to be read today is the Eric Bentley version, so that is the one that I would recommend to you.
the original german title of the play is "Frulings Erwachen." according to my german speaking friends, fruling=spring, erwachen=awakening. by adding an "s" to the end of fruling, it makes it possessive. for some reason or another, however, it is commonly translated as simply "Spring Awakening" and not "Spring's Awakening." i did read a biography of wedekind that was published in 1920ish that called the play "The Awakening of Spring," which i thought was interesting, and confirms the possessiveness of fruling.
Well, the correct for is Spring's awaking because here spring is the symbol of the sexual instinct. We all are a bit more sexual during springtime, right? The author wasn't thinking about the season SPRING when he decided the title, but at the beginnings of the sexual instincts.
