Description: Spring's Awakening is a tragi-comedy of teenage sex. Its fourteen-year-old heroine, Wendla, is killed by abortion pills. The young Moritz, terrorized by the world around him, and especially by his teachers, shoots himself. The ending seems likely to be the suicide of Moritz's friend, Melchior, but in a confrontation with a mysterious stranger (the famous Masked Man) he finally manages to shed his illusions and face the consequences.
Brief description: 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.