He wants to make a joke

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Data
Title: He wants to make a joke
Genus: Posse with singing in four acts
Original language: German
Author: Johann Nestroy
Literary source: A day well spent by John Oxenford
Music: Adolf Müller senior
Publishing year: 1842
Premiere: March 10, 1842
Place of premiere: Theater an der Wien
Place and time of the action: The action takes place in the first elevator in Zangler's apartment in a small town, then in the nearby capital, towards the end again at Zangler's
people
  • Zangler , a spice merchant in a small town
  • Marie , his niece and ward
  • Weinberl , clerk at Zangler
  • Christopherl , apprentice at Zangler
  • Kraps , house servant at Zangler's
  • Mrs. Gertrud , housekeeper at Zangler
  • Melchior , a wandering house servant
  • August special
  • Hupfer , a master tailor
  • Madame Knorr , fashion merchant in the capital
  • Fischer's wife , widow
  • Fräulein von Blumenblatt, Zangler's sister-in-law
  • Brunninger , businessman
  • Philippine , cleaner
  • Lisette , maid with Fräulein von Blumenblatt
  • A caretaker
  • A coachman
  • A guard
  • Rab , a crook
  • First, second waiter

He wants to make a joke is a farce with singing in four acts by Johann Nestroy and was premiered on March 10, 1842 in the Theater an der Wien as a “benefit performance” for the poet.

content

When inspector Weinberl, frustrated by the monotony of his everyday life , receives the prospect of being able to become an associé ( partner , co-owner) in his general store, he argues about his life so far:

"If you only know something about world life from incomplete waste books, if you only know the sunrise from the floor window, the red sunset only from the stories of customers, there remains a void inside that all oil drums in the south, all haring drums in the north, don't fill, an absurdity all Muskatblüth India can not season. " (I -art  Act, 13 th  Scene)

Instead of taking care of the Gwölb in Zangler's absence, as instructed, Weinberl goes to the nearby capital with his apprentice Christoph to finally be a “cursed guy” . There they almost run into Zangler, who is visiting his future wife. They flee to Madame Knorr's fashion store, where they meet Frau von Fischer, later also Marie, Zangler's ward, who wants to flee with her lover August Sonders, who is not favored by her guardian, and the new house servant Melchior ( "Das is classic " ). At Zangler's sister-in-law Fräulein Blumenblatt they finally pretend to be Marie and August, until these two, as well as Zangler, Madame Knorr and Frau von Fischer also arrive there.

Christoph: ". Give it to me, I riskir every moment that you einsprengt my door and drags me to the principal" (III ter  Act, 12 th  Scene)

Weinberl and Christoph narrowly escape and return to the shop. There they catch the intruders Rab and Kraps in the act and are praised by Zangler. Marie and August are also finally allowed to embrace each other. But Weinberl, who makes a - successful - marriage proposal to Fischer's wife, is cured of his longing:

“Now I ask, but does such a joke pay off if you buy it with a fear, with 3 horrors, 5 embarrassments and 7 fears? [...] Now I have the good fortune enjoyed Being a fucking guy, and the whole yield of happiness is that I'd like at any cost Being more a fucking guy. " (III ter  Act, 15 th and 16 th  Scene)

Factory history

Despite the double burden of having to play on two stages - Theater an der Wien and Carltheater were run side by side for a while by Director Carl Carl - Johann Nestroy wrote his second great success piece after Lumpacivagabundus (1833) with A Joke, He Wants to Make Himself . He repeated his complaint about the monotonous, uniform daily routine, which he had already formulated in the Talisman (1840) - there put Titus the fire fox in the mouth with almost the same formulation.

The model for Nestroy's piece remained unknown for a long time, it was not found until 1923 by the Austrian literary historian Robert Franz Arnold (1872–1938) and this was published in the Literary Echo (August 1, 1923, 25th year). The play is based on the farce A Day well spent by John Oxenford (1812-1877) from 1834, a mistaken comedy. It was first performed at the New English Opera House on April 4, 1834. Nestroy, however, went beyond the stereotypical mix-ups and coincidences and increased them into the absurd, the drama elements were only a basis for his play with social clichés. Otto Rommel wrote that Nestroy's work was related to the original like “a mature working through to a sketch” .

Johann Nestroy played Weinberl, Wenzel Scholz Melchior and Alois Grois alternated with Ignaz Stahl as Zangler, Nestroy's niece (the daughter of his sister Maria Franziska [1803–1866], who was announced on the theater bill as Dlle. Nestroy) as Marie . The play had 50 performances by October 1842, guest performances in Prague, Brno and Berlin with Nestroy's participation took place in 1842.

Nestroy's play was honored on October 14, 1842: Die Posse The False English, or: The Interrupted Engagement , written by Eduard Breier (1811–1886) and premiered in the Theater an der Wien, fell through. That evening, the audience loudly and successfully demanded a lookup from Director Carl as compensation in the form of the first act of He wants to make a joke!

A handwritten manuscript by Nestroy with the title A Joke is preserved, as well as a personal score by Adolf Müller entitled A Joke he wants to make himself. Posse with singing in four acts by Joh. Nestroy. Music by Adolf Müller Capellmst. 1842.

Thornton Wilder's comedy The Merchant of Yonkers (1938), based on Nestroy's play, was re-released as The Matchmaker in 1954, heavily revised by the author, and served as the template for the musical Hello, Dolly! .

In 1981 the British playwright Tom Stoppard published an adaptation of the play under the title On the Razzle , which premiered that same year at the Royal National Theater in London.

Contemporary receptions

While the audience applauded the performances from the start, the criticism was sometimes somewhat restrained, probably also influenced by the simultaneous great success of Franz Xaver Told's libretto for Anton Emil Titl's opera Der Zauberschleier , which premiered on February 11, 1842 in the Theater in der Josefstadt , which has been compared to Ferdinand Raimund's The Prodigal .

In the Wiener Theaterzeitung , the editor Adolf Bäuerle himself wrote on March 12th (No. 61, p. 276 f.) After a detailed synopsis:

"The whole piece is a chain of the most amusing, striking, animated by the funniest dialogue, which has ever been stored in a farce."

The excellent representations by Nestroy and Scholz were particularly emphasized.

In the Österreichisches Morgenblatt (No. 31) reference was made to the English model and Nestroy's treatment of it was counted among his best antics. The Wanderer (March 12, No. 61) nevertheless suspected that it was an "original piece" by the poet and that the poet had not used any template. His satirical view of the "modern conditions" of the trading class through the role of the Weinberl was highly praised. Even collector (no. 41) took part in an original work, raising his "double power as a poet and as a comedian" appears next to it also Scholz as Melchior, despite or perhaps because this role actually "only stagnant in the course of the action" engaging.

Moritz Gottlieb Saphir , the satirist who was always critical of Nestroy, was somewhat positive this time in his magazine Der Humorist (No. 51), also assumed the poet's own creation and was only bothered by the complexity of the plot of the last act:

“Today we see what Mr. Nestroy also has an invention for inexhaustible Born, because if we want to blame something. so it would be 'too much'. Mr. N. has done too much of a good thing, he has piled up the bulk of the action so that it runs the risk of collapsing in the last - the weakest - act. "

Anton Johann Gross-Hoffinger was one of the very few very critical in the magazine Der Adler (No. 61), where he remarked that this work was behind Nestroy's “other creations” because the “drastic drawing of the characters [...] in Hogarth's manner ” this time is missing, as “ fleeting work ”it must “ absolutely be counted among the weaker works of Nestroy ”. Other reviewers also showed at least an ambivalent attitude to the piece, for example in the Sunday papers for local interests (March 13, No. 11), in the Wiener Zeitschrift (March 14, No. 52), in the Wiener Musik-Zeitung (March 15, No. 32), in the audience (March 16, No. 32) - in all the papers, as well as in part in the modern research literature, uncertainty about the satirical intention and its implementation by the poet was addressed.

Nevertheless, the reviewers described the enthusiastic jubilation in the Theater an der Wien and this reaction of the audience was always rightly seen as proof of the great success, as could be read in the theater newspaper of March 16 (No. 64, p. 290):

“The new piece by Nestroy: 'He wants to have a joke' is constantly receiving extraordinary applause and very unusual encouragement. The applause is stormy every time, and there is no shortage of evocations. "

Later interpretations

The Nestroy research agreed that he wants to make a joke would be a masterpiece in terms of structure, but in the past it was very often not understood as a socially critical satire, but merely played down as a "joke".

From Otto Basil (1901-1983), the work is counted among the "showpieces of the Austrian National Literature". According to Hans Mayer (1907–2001), the work shows in satirical form “a worthless order from top to bottom, which ends with Nestroy with three silly weddings that don't change anything, completely put an end to it” .

In 1983, Jürgen Hein (1942–2014) refers to Nestroy's wit, which shows itself in the “playful-satirical limbo of the happy ending” .

In Fritz Brukner and Otto Rommel especially the English original with Nestroy's work is compared, that it performs better in all respects. Oxenford's piece, two-thirds shorter than the joke , is described as being smoother, faster and more sober in dialogue. The scenes and people inserted by Nestroy - the "classic" house servant Melchior, the housekeeper Mrs. Gertrud, large parts of the inn scene, the meeting of the actors at Fräulein von Blumenblatt (originally Miss Chargeley) and others - are missing, from an isolated "Shocking, indeed! ”of the colorless Miss Harriet, Nestroy made the stereotypical “ It is not appropriate! ”of his deliciously caricatured Marie. In summary, it is said that Oxenford's characters are only colorless roles, Nestroy's counterparts are colorfully drawn stage characters.

Franz H. Mautner states that here a vague and concise, yet haunting description of the milieu, quickly outlined characters and a carnival-like happy event can be experienced, slowed down and at the same time driven by skillfully brought about and just as skillfully resolved entanglements. Flight and pursuit, Surfacing feared and disappearance of wanted persons were an anticipation of the future slapstick - Comedies .

literature

  • Helmut Ahrens : I'm not auctioning myself off to the laurel. Johann Nestroy, his life. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7973-0389-0 .
  • Fritz Brukner / Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. Historical-critical complete edition, eleventh volume, published by Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1928.
  • Franz H. Mautner (Ed.): Johann Nestroys Komödien. Edition in 6 volumes, Insel Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 1979, 2nd edition 1981, 4th volume; Pp. 86-169, 317-318.
  • Franz H. Mautner: Johann Nepomuk Nestroy Comedies. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1979, 2nd edition 1995, Insel Taschenbuch No. 1742.
  • Otto Rommel: Nestroy's works, selection in two parts, Golden Classics Library, German publishing house Bong & Co., Berlin / Leipzig / Vienna / Stuttgart 1908, pp. 238–311, 357.
  • Otto Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Collected Works. Historical-critical complete edition, third volume, Verlag von Anton Schroll & Co., Vienna 1948–1949, new edition 1962; Pp. 601-700, 717-718, 733-735.
  • W. Edgar Yates (Ed.): Johann Nestroy; Pieces 18 / I. In: Jürgen Hein / Johann Hüttner : Johann Nestroy, Complete Works, Historical-Critical Edition. Youth and People, Vienna / Munich 1991, ISBN 3-224-16933-8 .

text

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ means Vienna
  2. ↑ Allusion to the wooden pickle tongs
  3. ↑ spice merchant = druggist ; see also Nestroy's piece Das Gewürzkrämerkleeblatt (1845)
  4. ↑ Weinberl = Viennese for raisin ; from Franz Seraph Huegel: The Viennese dialect. Lexicon of the Viennese vernacular. (1873) says: "A person who, although guilty, has been brought to trial, pretends to know nothing of the subject of the charge."
  5. ↑ derived from krapsen, grabbing = stealing
  6. ↑ vacating = unemployed
  7. ↑ Wachter, Wächter = community servant with police function
  8. ↑ Waste books = already used writing or newsprint was used to wrap the goods (and as reading material for the employees)
  9. ^ Yates: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 18 / I. P. 27.
  10. ^ Gwölb, G'wölb = shop, mostly on the ground floor or basement
  11. ^ Yates: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 18 / I. P. 81.
  12. ^ Yates: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 18 / I. Pp. 85-86.
  13. ↑ Ahrens: I'm not auctioning myself off to the laurel. Pp. 235-236.
  14. ^ Facsimile of Duncombe's Edition in Yates: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 33. pp. 248-272.
  15. ^ Mautner: Johann Nestroys Komödien. P. 318.
  16. ↑ Dem . or Dlle . is the abbreviation for Demoiselle (= Fräulein), the name used to describe the unmarried women of an ensemble; the married actresses were titled Mad. (Madame)
  17. ↑ Facsimile of the theater ticket in Hein: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 33. p. 243.
  18. ↑ Karl Michael Kisler (1930–1996): The Theater Mayr. From the Biedermeier diaries of the theater painter Michael Mayr. Edition Roetzer, Vienna / Eisenstadt 1988.
  19. ↑ Manuscript collection in the Vienna City Hall , call number HIN 70.703.
  20. ↑ Music collection of the Vienna Library in the City Hall , call number MH 786.
  21. ^ Otto CA zur Nedden / Karl Heinz Ruppel : Reclams Acting Guide , 14th Edition, Reclams Universal Library No. 7817; Stuttgart 1969, p. 895.
  22. ^ Yates: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 18 / I. Pp. 116-135. (for the entire chapter on contemporary criticism )
  23. ^ William Hogarth (1697–1764), socially critical graphic artist and painter, with his ruthless irony a forerunner of modern caricaturists
  24. ↑ a b Yates: Johann Nestroy; Pieces 18 / I. Pp. 151-154.
  25. ^ Ernst Fischer: Major works of Austrian literature . P. 133.
  26. ^ Hans Mayer: German literary criticism. Henry Goverts publishing house, Stuttgart and Frankfurt 1962–76.
  27. ^ Brukner / Rommel: Johann Nestroy, Complete Works. Pp. 547-551.
  28. ^ Mautner: Johann Nepomuk Nestroy Comedies. P. 421.