This challenging work was very well staged and performed at the Young Vic, having been on tour as part of the theatre's YV Unpacked outreach programme.
Written by Franz Wedekind in 1891, the play deals with the sexual awakening of its teenage cast and covers rape, pregnancy, abortion, death, suicide, masturbation and homosexuality amongst other topics. The trick that the production by Caroline Byrne achieves is to stage the subject matter in a clear but tasteful way.
This takes a good deal of creativity which is evident from the outset as we walk into the theatre to find the lead female character - Wendla - hidden under an enormous dress which her mother entreats her to put on - presumably to hide her sexuality. The girl pleads to wear her more childish dress for another year and goes on to get pregnant by the confident youth Melchior. She develops anaemia, has an abortion and dies. Meanwhile, Melchior's friend, Moritz, was excellently played in a way that conveyed his ignorance and innocence that led him to suicide.
This all sounds pretty unbearable but it was an engaging 75 minutes that got worthy applause.
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