Erdgeist | Die Büchse der Pandora

Wedekind himself played the tamer of his "snake" Lulu on stage, another time Lulu's murderer. But the fascination of Lulu cannot be tamed - until today. Lulu seems to come out of nowhere. Her nature quickly infatuates men - whether they are doctors, artists or pimps - to such an extent that they fall for her and end tragically. Is this mysterious woman so desirable because every man can love himself and his own desired image in her? In any case, in the Lulu dramas Frank Wedekind presents the figure not only in her radiant rise, but also in her decline. She first falls into prostitution and finally into the murderous hands of the serial killer Jack. The question arises: is Lulu the man-eating femme fatale or the victim of male-dominated power relations? With his Lulu dramas, Frank Wedekind wrote a clear-sighted analysis of gender relations, but also of the economic and power structures of his time, which has lost nothing of its topicality. The Lulu dramas "Erdgeist" and "Pandora's Box" are still among the best-known German-language dramas and are performed worldwide. Lulu's eroticism and indifference, strength and weakness still have a seductive and disturbing effect today - fascinating in any case.