Deaf West Theatre, in association with The Forest of Arden, reinvents the multiple Tony Award-winning musical about lost innocence and the struggles of youth with an immersive production performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English. Based on Frank Wedekind’s controversial 1891 expressionist play of the same name and featuring an electrifying rock/pop score, Spring Awakening follows the lives of a group of adolescents as they navigate their entry into sexual awareness. Featuring a cast of 25 deaf, hard of hearing and hearing actors and musicians.

“The mix of sign language and choreography performed by this amazing young cast brings the songs to life in a completely new way,” says director Michael Arden. “It’s our hope that this reimagining will kindle a new connection between the hearing and deaf communities.”

Deaf West artistic director David J. Kurs suggests that this production illuminates the divide between deaf children and their hearing parents who do not share their world. “The play is all about the fraught relationship between parent and child, about navigating the world without strong guidance,” he explains. “The inability of the characters in Spring Awakening to connect to and communicate with their parents is similar to the experience of many deaf children.”

Spring Awakening runs Sept. 13 through Oct. 19, with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Five preview performances take place Sunday, Sept. 7 at 3 p.m., and Tuesday, Sept. 9 through Friday, Sept. 12, all at 8 p.m. Performances take place in the Rosenthal Theater at Inner-City Arts, located at 720 Kohler Street in downtown L.A. (just south of the Arts District). For reservations and information, call (818) 762-2998 (voice) or go to www.deafwest.org.