Theatre director Robert Wilson’s pioneering productions, such as “Einstein on the Beach” and “Deafman Glance,” have shaped the look of theatre since the late 1960s. His show “Ouverture” was featured at Paris’ very first Festival d’Automne in 1972 and he has regularly returned with cutting edge shows at the Festival ever since.

Wilson is back in Paris this autumn with his take on “Lulu,” a play by Frank Wedekind. With music written by Lou Reed performed by the Berliner Ensemble the play will be staged at the Théâtre de la Ville in German and English (November 4-13).

“Lulu” initially shocked audiences when it premiered on the German stage in 1898, although this is perhaps unsurprising given its subject matter. The eponymous Lulu, a beautiful teenage prostitute, romps through a series of lovers and husbands, several of whom end up dead, flirts with lesbianism, and then relocates to London, where she ends up having a fateful – and final – encounter with Jack the Ripper. Unfortunately for Wedekind, the audiences’ outrage prevented them from grasping the play’s real message. Lulu is in fact a fragile woman, and her story serves to strip away the veneer of false morality behind which the fin-de-siècle bourgeoisie hid.

Given the sharp contrasts in this play – between control and debauchery– Wilson chooses to use melodrama as a technique for keeping emotion at a distance. His version of “Lulu” sees his cast shrouded in black Victorian costumes, with blanched faces and staring, doll-like eyes. In to this monochrome world emerges Lulu, played by Angela Winkler, who literally brings colour with her to this black and white stage.

Despite the audacity of his creations – such as his 12-hour silent opera about Josef Stalin, and his week-long play set on a mountain-top in Iran – Wilson has garnered effusive praise from critics and audiences alike. Wilson says of his work, “I like to pull the rug out from underneath. Keep it unpredictable.” With his new version of “Lulu” Wilson once again promises to be predictably unpredictable.

‘Lulu,  directed by Robert Wilson, Nov. 4-13 2011, at Théâtre de la Ville, 2, place du Châtelet – 75004 Paris. Tickets: 22€ - 34€     www.theatredelaville-paris.com