Einen Jux will er sich machen
Encyclopedia
Einen Jux will er sich machen (1842), (He Will Go on a Spree or He'll Have Himself a Good Time), is a three-act musical play
, designated as a Posse mit Gesang
, by Austria
n playwright
Johann Nestroy
first performed at the Theater an der Wien
in Vienna
on 10 March 1842. The music was by Adolf Müller.
Although about half of Nestroy's works have been revived for the modern German
-speaking audience and many are part and parcel of today's Viennese
repertoire, few have ever been translated
into English
, because Nestroy's language is not only stylized and finely graduated Viennese dialect, but also full of multiple puns and local allusions.
Einen Jux will er sich machen is the only one that has become well known to English-speaking theatre-goers. It has become a classic more than once. It was adapted twice by Thornton Wilder
, first as The Merchant of Yonkers
(1938), then as The Matchmaker
(1955), which later became the musical Hello, Dolly!
. It also achieved success as the comic masterpiece On the Razzle
, which was adapted by Tom Stoppard
in 1981. Stoppard claims in his introduction that in most of the dialogues he did not even attempt to translate what Nestroy wrote.
The play itself was adapted from John Oxenford
's A Day Well Spent (1835).
for more details.)
as Weinberl, Inge Konradi as Christopherl, Hans Thimig
as Kraps, Richard Eybner
as Zangerl, Ferdinand Mayerhofer as Melchior, and Gusti Wolf
as Marie.
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, designated as a Posse mit Gesang
Posse mit Gesang
Posse mit Gesang is a form of popular German-language music drama, that developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early examples are sometimes called 'Possenspil' or 'Possenspiel'...
, by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...
first performed at the Theater an der Wien
Theater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 10 March 1842. The music was by Adolf Müller.
Although about half of Nestroy's works have been revived for the modern German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
-speaking audience and many are part and parcel of today's Viennese
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
repertoire, few have ever been translated
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, because Nestroy's language is not only stylized and finely graduated Viennese dialect, but also full of multiple puns and local allusions.
Einen Jux will er sich machen is the only one that has become well known to English-speaking theatre-goers. It has become a classic more than once. It was adapted twice by Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
, first as The Merchant of Yonkers
The Merchant of Yonkers
The Merchant of Yonkers is a play by Thornton Wilder.Hilary Daniels 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
(1938), then as The Matchmaker
The Matchmaker
The Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder.The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
(1955), which later became the musical Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
. It also achieved success as the comic masterpiece On the Razzle
On the Razzle (play)
On the Razzle is a play by Tom Stoppard. It is an adaptation of the Viennese play Einen Jux will er sich machen by Johann Nestroy, which previously was adapted twice by Thornton Wilder...
, which was adapted by Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
in 1981. Stoppard claims in his introduction that in most of the dialogues he did not even attempt to translate what Nestroy wrote.
The play itself was adapted from John Oxenford
John Oxenford
John Oxenford , English dramatist, was born at Camberwell, London, England.-Life:He began his literary career by writing on finance...
's A Day Well Spent (1835).
Roles
- Zangler, spice trader in a small town
- Marie, his niece und ward
- Weinberl, Zangler's apprentice
- Christopherl, Zangler's apprentice
- Kraps, Zangler's servant
- Frau Gertrud, Zangler's housekeeper
- Melchior, a lazy servant
- August Sonders, Marie's impoverished suitor
- Hupfer, a master tailor
- Madame Knorr, milliner in Vienna
- Frau von Fischer, widow
- Fräulein Blumenblatt, Zangler's sister-in-law
- Brunninger, merchant
- Philippine, milliner
- Lisett, Fräulein Blumenblatt's parlour maid
- A landlord
- A coachman
- A guard
- Rab, a crook
- First waiter
- Second waiter
Synopsis
Weinberl and Christopherl go off to Vienna when they should be looking after Zangler's shop, only to run straight into their boss. (See the plot of 'On the Razzle'On the Razzle (play)
On the Razzle is a play by Tom Stoppard. It is an adaptation of the Viennese play Einen Jux will er sich machen by Johann Nestroy, which previously was adapted twice by Thornton Wilder...
for more details.)
Films
A fim entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen was made for television in 1956, directed by Alfred Stöger, with Josef MeinradJosef Meinrad
Josef Meinrad was an Austrian actor.Josef Meinrad was born Josef Moučka in Vienna, as the fourth and youngest child of the tramdriver Franz Moučka and his second wife Katharina. For his secondary education, he received a scholarship in a school run by Redemptorists in Katzelsdorf near Wiener...
as Weinberl, Inge Konradi as Christopherl, Hans Thimig
Hans Thimig
Hans Emil Thimig, pseudonym: Hans Werner was an Austrian actor, film director and stage director.- Life :...
as Kraps, Richard Eybner
Richard Eybner
-Selected filmography:* Kiss Me Casanova * Season in Salzburg * Franz Schubert * Wilhelm Tell * Sissi: The Young Empress * Eva * When the Grapevines Bloom on the Danube -External links:...
as Zangerl, Ferdinand Mayerhofer as Melchior, and Gusti Wolf
Gusti Wolf
Gusti Wolf was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress.Born in Vienna, Wolf made her stage debut at the Burgtheater in 1934 and from there moved on to Ostrava, Munich, and Berlin...
as Marie.