Einen Jux will er sich machen

(Out on a Lark) by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy. Premiered 1842. One of the funniest plays ever written in German, Nestroy based his farce on an 1835 English one-act titled A Day Well Spent. Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) adapted Nestroy's treatment in 1938 as The Merchant of Yonkers, and it subsequently became the basis of the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! Tom Stoppard created an enormously successful adaptation titled On the Razzle in 1981. Nestroy treats the rise and fall, and rise again, of dry goods clerk Weinberl. Promoted to partner in a suburban Viennese spice emporium, Weinberl seeks a little spice in his own life with an evening of fun before he assumes the responsibilities recently awarded him. He and his companion Christopherl go through a series of mishaps that threaten the careers of both when they embark on unwonted adventures in riotous living. They soon get far more adventures than they had imagined possible, and Nestroy's masterful touch is apparent in every minor upheaval Weinberl and Christopherl confront, which include abundant mistaken identities, misunderstandings, calamities, confusion, and finally reconciliation. In the end, Weinberl proposes to a young widow — and to his astonishment she accepts. The play ends with the prospect of three weddings, with nobody the worse for wear.