Frank Wedekind (1864–1918)

Poor or non-existent sex education can lead to such undesirable results as rape, suicide and teen-age pregnancy. Illegal abortion can lead to death.

Well, preaching to the converted, there. The trouble is that the un-converted are the kind of people who would get outraged by a play like this and try to ban its performance or publication. I would like to think the problem is not as severe now as at the time of its initial publication but here in Britain it is still possible for parents to prevent their children from attending sex-ed classes if they want to. The children of such parents seem likely to be the ones who stand in most need of it, though, so complacency is not an option.

The play itself is, in this version, short and readable and has a completely bizarre final act. Who is the masked man?… (more)

This is a story about several young teenagers in late 1800's Germany who are all coming to terms with what it means to be both children and adults; or at least somewhere inbetween. It's a story about exploring themselves both mentally and physically but also noticing the difference in their interactions and relations with other teenagers – and most importantly, their relation to the adult world and how the adults view and treat them and their questions and thoughts.

It's about the suicidal teenager who can't stop thinking about lady legs, his best friend who struggles with the ignorance of the adulthood without realising his own and the two boys who hide away in the vineyards to kiss. We meet the girl abused by her father late at night; a dark secret that is eating her up from the inside. As she somewhat tells her friends of her abuse, one of them wants to experience what abuse is like. It's truly a coming of age story; gritty and dark in ways the 80's coming of age films never allowed – but it's also filled with so much wonder and light. It's dark and it's heartbreaking but it's also bright and full of love.

This god damn play. Honestly. I've been waiting for the right time to do this review because it's so fantastic. Before this, I was not that interested in reading plays. I mean, I'd read a few Shakespeare plays before but this one changed my god damn world. Thanks to this play, I haven't only gotten into reading plays but I've become a lot more passionate about theatre than I was before; especially musical theatre. This isn't a musical but it brought me to the musical adaption of the play. Although, as much as I love the characters and the actors of the musical, very few things could beat this play.

It makes one really think about things and see things from a new perspective. I really wish I'd known about this play when I was around fourteen, fifteen because it would've helped me so much. But it feels just as important for the adult world to read; to realise their flaws and consider what they teach their children but also how and why.… (more)