soup firm, in Switzerland in 1886. He had an affair with Frida Uhl who bore him a child. Having initially worked in business
and the circus, Wedekind went on to become an actor and singer. In this capacity he received wide acclaim as the principal star
of the satirical cabaret Die elf Scharfrichter (The Eleven Executioners), launched in 1901. It was thanks to Wedekind's success
that the tradition of German satirical writing was established in the theatre, producing the cabaret-song satirists Kurt
Tucholsky, Walter Mehring, Joachim Ringelnatz and Erich Kästner among others, who invigorated the culture of the Weimar
Republic; At the age of 34, after serving a nine-month prison sentence for "lèse-majesté" (thanks to the publication in
Simplizissimus of some of his satirical poems). Wedekind's first major play, Frühlings Erwachen (Spring ‘s Awakening, 1891),
which concerns sexuality and puberty among some young German students, caused a scandal, as it contained scenes of
masturbation, homoeroticism, and suicide, as well as references to abortion. The "Lulu" plays Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895)
and Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora's Box, 1904) are probably his best known works. Originally conceived as a single play,
the two pieces tell a continuous story of a sexually-enticing young dancer who rises in German society through her
relationships with wealthy men, but who later falls into poverty and prostitution. The frank depiction of sexuality and violence
in these plays, including suggestions of lesbianism and an encounter with Jack the Ripper (a role which Wedekind played
himself in the original production), pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on the stage at the time. The
plays formed the basis for G W Pabst's acclaimed silent film Pandora's Box (1929), starring Louise Brooks as Lulu, and Alban
Berg's Lulu (1937), which is considered to be one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century opera. Der Kammersänger (The
Court-Singer, 1899) is a one-act character study of a famous opera singer who receives a series of unwelcome guests
at his hotel suite. In Franziska (1910), the title character, a young girl, initiates a Faustian pact with the Devil, selling her soul
for the knowledge of what it is like to live life as a man (reasoning that men seem to have all the advantages).
Read Prologue and Act One of the Lulu plays. Read Act Two. Read Act Three.