Frank Wedekind

Frank Wedekind
Frank Wedekind
Born
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind

(1864-07-24)July 24, 1864
DiedMarch 9, 1918(1918-03-09) (aged 53)
OccupationPlaywright
RelativesErika Wedekind (sister)
Douglas Adams (great-grandson)
FamilyWedekind zur Horst [de]
Signature
Wedekind and his wife Tilly, 1910

Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the development of epic theatre.[1]

In the English-speaking world, before 2006 Wedekind was best known for the "Lulu" cycle, a two-play series—Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora's Box, 1904)—centered on a young dancer/adventuress of mysterious origin. In 2006 his earlier play Frühlings Erwachen (Spring Awakening, 1891) became well known because of a Broadway musical adaptation.

  1. ^ See Banham (1998) and Willett (1959). In his Messingkauf Dialogues, Brecht cites Wedekind, along with Büchner and Valentin, as his "chief influences" in his early years: "he", Brecht writes of himself in the third person, "also saw the writer Wedekind performing his own works in a style which he had developed in cabaret. Wedekind had worked as a ballad singer; he accompanied himself on the lute." (1965, 69).