Frank Wedekind and his play "Spring's Awakening"

In coordination with this year's Pioneer Performance Series production of Spring Awakening, the musical, (based on a 19th century German play by Frank Wedekind), and Professor Jay Rosellini's presentation about the original work and Wedekind’s legacy in drama history, the Sawyer Library is highlighting items in the Library's collection related to the play and its German author.

The contemporary production:

• Spring Awakening
  Book and lyrics by Steven Sater ; music by Duncan Sheik. Online access via eBrary.


• Spring Awakening : In the Flesh
  Written by David Cote ; principal photography by Doug Hamilton and Joan Marcus.

The English translation of Wedekind's play:

• Spring's Awakening: Tragedy of Childhood
  By Frank Wedekind; English version and ten notes by Eric Bentley

The original play:

• Frühlings Erwachen : eine Kindertragödie
  Frank Wedekind ; mit einem Nachwort von Georg Hensel

Biography and criticism of Frank Wedekind (1864-1918):

• Frank Wedekind
  By Sol Gittleman


• Frank Wedekind
  by Alan Best

• Twentieth-Century German Dramatists, 1889-1918
  Access book at Gale's Dictionary of Literary Biography Online


• The Playwright & Historical Change; Dramatic Strategies in Brecht, Hauptmann, Kaiser & Wedekind
  By Leroy R. Shaw

German literature and culture:

• The Cambridge Companion to
  Modern German Culture
  View full text via Cambridge Online

Reviews of performances, and articles about the play, from
the New York Times, spanning from 1908 to 2008.

All are available online to Suffolk University students and staff, via
the Historic New York Times database.

• Isherwood, Charles. "Injecting Real Youth into a Youthful show." New York Times (1923-Current file): 1. Sep 15 2008. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• BELLAFANTE, GINIA. "Sex, Repressed and Unleashed." New York Times (1923-Current file): 2. Feb 09 2007. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Isherwood, Charles. "THEATER REVIEW: A Rock 'n' Roll Heartbeat for German Schoolboys of the 19th Century." New York Times (1923-Current file): 1. Jun 16 2006. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• SISARIO, BEN. "Duncan Sheik." New York Times (1923-Current file): 1. Feb 26 2006. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Gussow, MEL. "Stage: Juilliard Players do 'Spring Awakening'." New York Times (1923-Current file): 40. Dec 19 1977. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Funke, LEWIS. "Theater: Wedekind's 'the Awakening of Spring': Sex-Education Sermon at Pocket Theater 1891 Play Conveys Air of a Museum Piece." New York Times (1923-Current file): 50. May 13 1964. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Gelb, ARTHUR. "Theatre: Dated Sermon: 'Spring's Awakening'Is an Essay on Sex." New York Times (1923-Current file): 30. Oct 10 1955. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• "COURT BARS SEX PLAY: Justice Erlanger Finds "The Awakening of Spring" Unfit for Public." New York Times (1857-1922): 13. May 03 1917. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• "THE AWAKENING OF SPRING": A Tragedy of Childhood by the German Playwright, Frank Wedekind." New York Times (1857-1922): 1. Oct 01 1910. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Special Cable to THE NEW,YORK TIMES. "CHILD ACTORS SEEN IN GERMAN SEX PLAY." New York Times (1857-1922): 9. Oct 29 1908. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.