Wedekind Plays: 1: Spring Awakening: A Children's Tragedy, Lulu: A Monster Tragedy

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Wedekind Plays: 1: Spring Awakening: A Children's Tragedy, Lulu: A Monster Tragedy
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Frank Wedekind
SeriesWorld Classics
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:256
Dimensions(mm): Height 203,Width 127
Category/GenrePlays, playscripts
ISBN/Barcode 9780413675408
ClassificationsDewey:832
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publication Date 11 March 1993
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Wedekind's expressionist plays influenced the whole course of modern drama A moralist who wore the mask of an immoralist, Wedekind was the terror of the German bourgeoisie. His work was censored and the original Lulu play was not even published during his lifetime; Wedekind toned it down and adapted it to make two plays: Pandora's Box and Earth-Spirit. The version in this volume, Lulu: A Monster Tragedy, is based on the first manuscript, presenting the original sexually voracious heroine to a British audience for the first time. The volume also contains Spring Awakening, "a work of great compassion that still has a lot to teach us about the dangers of battening down adolescent sex..." (Guardian). The translation of Spring Awakening ("scrupulously faithful both to Wedekind's irony and his poetry" The Times) was commissioned by the National Theatre and that of Lulu: A Monster Tragedy ("the Bonds' version is sharper and funnier than its predecessors" Guardian) was toured nationally. Both plays are complemented by the translators' historically illuminating introductions.

Author Biography

Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) had a seminal effect on the development of twentieth-centruy German drama. His plays portray a society riven by the demands of lust and greed, and his powerful writing continues to disturb and shock; his plays were still being refused a performing licence in Britain in the 1960s.

Reviews

The translation of Spring Awakening, 'scrupulously faithful both to Wedekind's irony and his poetry' -- The Times, was commissioned by the National Theatre and that of Lulu: A Monster Tragedy, 'the Bonds' version is sharper and funnier than its predecessors' -- Guardian, was toured nationally.