Frank Wedekind Books

I heard Franzen speak about how unfaithful the recent NY production was to Wedekind's anarchistic perspective. This is a brash and funny send up of modern society's sexual hypocrisy. Fast read, too.

Spring awakening explores the sexual awakening of teenage boys and girls in Germany in the late 1800's. It was shocking in its day, and still is somewhat today, despite the openness of our society.
The Frank Wedekind play has been updated, set to music, and will open as a major Broadway Musical in Spring, 2003. Watch for it, you will be blown away! And be sure to read the play first. You'll be amazed at how true the production is to Frank Wedekind's fine work.

as an actor I have just performed this play I was Mechior one of the lead roles this book has a mixture of teenage experiences, a must read for all directors and actors if you ever get a chance to perform it then make sure you do

Hughes' translation seems as rich, exciting & electric to modern readers as the original text must have been to audiences a century ago. It avoids the stiff awkwardness that former English translations have been known for, while still remaining true to Wedekind's dark symbolism and expressionistic overtones. A must-read for theater-lovers and practictioners alike.

This is an interesting historical curiosity in which a woman rules men with sex, but once she starts taking an active role she's hemmed in and destroyed. Somehow I expected a little more punch from this play. The version I saw turned it into a cabaret act, but the actual text is much less stimulating. In fact there are too many people standing around talking about the philosophical pains of sex.

It's interesting, but it doesn't feel like German expressionism.