Spring Awakening

Frank Wedekind (1864-1918) had a seminal effect on the development of twentieth-centruy German drama. His plays portray a society riven by the demands of lust and greed, and his powerful writing continues to disturb and shock; his plays were still being refused a performing licence in Britain in the 1960s.

Anya wrote her first play when she was 14 and then became a member of the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers' Programme. Last year she was invited to take part in the Royal Court's Supergroup of young writers. Her debut play, Spur of the Moment (written when she was 17) opened to fantastic acclaim at the Royal Court Theatre in July 2010, winning her the award for Most Promising Playwright at both the Evening Standard and Critics Circle awards. It also won the TMA Theatre Award for Best New Play in 2010. Her sophomore play The Acid Test was staged at the Royal Court in 2011 to a sell-out run and great reviews. Anya will be contributing a piece to the Bush Theatre's 66 Books: A Contemporary Response to the King James Bible, which opens in October.