Theatre
Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus
Not translated into English
Johann Nepomuk Nestroy · 1833
Opening lines
Chor der alten Zauberer
Wir werden euch schon Mores lehren,
Ihr liederlichen Bursche, ihr!
Was nun geschehn wird, sollt ihr hören,
Der Feenkönig richtet hier.
We'll teach you manners, you'll see,
You dissolute young fellows, you!
What is to happen now you shall hear,
The Fairy King sits in judgement here.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from projekt-gutenberg.org
Synopsis
The evil spirit Lumpazivagabundus lures the sons of the old magicians away from their trade. To confound him, Fortune makes three vagabond companions, a cobbler, a tailor and a carpenter, win the jackpot, certain that they will squander it and so prove that money reforms no one. The three part ways and agree to meet again in a year, to the day.
Context
Its author had already treated the subject in two plays that were never staged, in 1832 and then at the beginning of 1833, before taking it up again here; the plot comes from a humoresque by Carl Weisflog published in 1827, which Nestroy transposed into the world of Viennese craftsmen and framed with a fairy play. The premiere took place on 11 April 1833 at the Theater an der Wien, with music by Adolf Müller; he himself played the part of the drunken cobbler Knieriem. From 1832 to 1846, this theatre premiered forty-five of his plays. The text was printed in 1835.
Who it is for
Three acts interspersed with couplets. The text depends on the Viennese dialect and on continuous wordplay, which makes it resistant to translation: an annotated edition is preferable.
Prizes and reception
An unparalleled success at the theatre where it was first staged, which made Nestroy the first actor-author of Vienna; it has remained his best-known play.
Sources for this page 12
The pages consulted to check this page.