Spring Awakening

‘[This translation by Edward Bond is] scrupulously faithful both to Wedekind''s irony and his poetry’
THE TIMES
Written in 1891, Frank Wedekind’s explosive play lays bare the brutal clash between adolescence and authority. Set in a stifling provincial German town, it exposes a world ruled by fear, hypocrisy and moral absolutism, where young people are denied knowledge, agency and compassion.
As repressive adults impose silence and shame, teenage curiosity and sexual longing erupt into confusion, rebellion, and tragedy. Shocking, darkly ironic and radically ahead of its time, Wedekind’s play confronts the catastrophic consequences of denying youth honest education and emotional freedom.
A seminal work of modern drama, it remains a searing indictment of moral repression—and a fearless exploration of growing up under tyranny.
This Student Edition in the translation by Edward Bond contains a commentary and notes by Joseph Prestwich.