Who wrote the 1904 play Pandora’s Box, later adapted into a famous 1929 film?

Frank Wedekind wrote the 1904 play Pandora’s Box.

Wedekind’s Pandora’s Box is a German drama centered on Lulu, a sexually independent and socially disruptive character. It forms the second part of a dramatic cycle that began with Earth Spirit, first performed in 1895. The play’s provocative themes challenged conventional attitudes toward sexuality, morality, and bourgeois society.

The work became especially famous through G. W. Pabst’s 1929 silent film Pandora’s Box, starring Louise Brooks as Lulu. The film is an adaptation rather than the original source: its story and central character derive from Wedekind’s dramas, while Pabst reshaped the material for cinema.

The play is often confused with the mythological story of Pandora because they share a title and imagery. Wedekind’s work is a modern German drama, not a retelling of Hesiod’s ancient Greek account. Its title helped connect Lulu’s destructive allure with the cultural idea of opening a container of hidden troubles.