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On the Razzle [adapted from Einen Jux will er sich machen by Johann Nestroy].
Comedy
Characters: 15 male, 10 female, extras, plus 6 musicians.
Various interior and exterior sets or unit set.
This recent hit in London is a free adaptation of the 19th century farce by Johann Nestroy that provided the plot for Thornton Wilder's The Merchant of Yonkers, which led to The Matchmaker, which led to Hello, Dolly. The story is basically one long chase, chiefly after two naughty grocer's assistants who, when their master goes off on a binge with a new mistress, escape to Vienna on a spree. "While preserving the beautiful intricacies of this construction, Stoppard has embellished Razzle with a dazzle of verbal wit an unremitting firework display of puns, crossword puzzle tricks and sly sexual innuendos." London Daily Telegraph . "Apart from Jumpers and The Importance of Being Earnest there may be no script in English funnier than On the Razzle." London Observer.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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About the author
Tom Stoppard
191 books987 followersSir Tom Stoppard is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical thematics of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. He was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright.
Stoppard's most prominent plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974), Night and Day (1978), The Real Thing (1982), Arcadia (1993), The Invention of Love (1997), The Coast of Utopia (2002), Rock 'n' Roll (2006) and Leopoldstadt (2020). He wrote the screenplays for Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Russia House (1990), Billy Bathgate (1991), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Enigma (2001), and Anna Karenina (2012), as well as the HBO limited series Parade's End (2013). He directed the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), an adaptation of his own 1966 play, with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as the leads.
He has received numerous awards and honours including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and five Tony Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". It was announced in June 2019 that Stoppard had written a new play, Leopoldstadt, set in the Jewish community of early 20th-century Vienna. The play premiered in January 2020 at Wyndham's Theatre. The play went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and later the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright.
Stoppard's most prominent plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974), Night and Day (1978), The Real Thing (1982), Arcadia (1993), The Invention of Love (1997), The Coast of Utopia (2002), Rock 'n' Roll (2006) and Leopoldstadt (2020). He wrote the screenplays for Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Russia House (1990), Billy Bathgate (1991), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Enigma (2001), and Anna Karenina (2012), as well as the HBO limited series Parade's End (2013). He directed the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), an adaptation of his own 1966 play, with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as the leads.
He has received numerous awards and honours including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and five Tony Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". It was announced in June 2019 that Stoppard had written a new play, Leopoldstadt, set in the Jewish community of early 20th-century Vienna. The play premiered in January 2020 at Wyndham's Theatre. The play went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and later the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 22, 2008
Pretty much I am a die-hard Stoppard fan (can you tell?). This play is absolutely worth the read, full of hilarious double meaning and word play. Then, too, a live performance will be that much better -- if ever you have a chance to see it, do! I had the privilege of seeing it performed exceptionally well last year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the actor who played the lead of Christopher was phenomenal.
November 7, 2008
Two clerks decide to live it up before they are bound by the responsibilities of adulthood. Very funny, but unlike Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, much of the fun is lost when you only read this play--you must see it performed as well.
February 19, 2010
A delightful farce. I'm glad that we'll be doing this show next spring. The sets/costumes are written to be complicated, but I'm sure we can work around it. Witty enough to make me giggle, not groan.
January 2, 2015
I once again adored the brilliant humour of Tom Stoppard.
However, somehow the fact that it was an adaptation/translation of an originally German play did shine through a bit, and it somehow made it a bit harder to get into the play. It did not make it any less enjoyable to read, though :)
However, somehow the fact that it was an adaptation/translation of an originally German play did shine through a bit, and it somehow made it a bit harder to get into the play. It did not make it any less enjoyable to read, though :)
May 2, 2011
A free meal is a great reason to say you're married to someone.
June 5, 2011
I loved this play - one of my favorites!
August 22, 2014
This play is a brilliant farce. Exits and entries galore. I was Melchior in this play in high school. What a treat from Stoppard. Read it!
September 20, 2015
It's hilariously funny!
October 24, 2022
This is a delightfully zany and light-hearted farce, adapted by Tom Stoppard from the same 19th century Viennese play that inspired The Matchmaker and Hello, Dolly!
The familiar story revolves around a parsimonious and provincial old merchant called Zangler, who has decided to spend the day in Vienna so that he can march in a Grocers Association Parade in Vienna and also so that he can call on his intended bride, Madame Knorr, the proprietress of a lady's hat shop. He places his store in the charge of his chief clerk Weinberl and the apprentice clerk Christopher; these two take advantage of Zangler's absence by closing up at lunchtime and heading to Vienna for an adventure of their own. Of course, once they get to the big city they find themselves in the midst of Zangler's parade; when they run away to avoid being spotted by their cantankerous employer, they dodge into Mme. Knorr's shop.
Matters are complicated by Zangler's young niece and ward Marie, who wants to marry a young man named Sonders without her uncle's permission; Zangler's dotty relative Miss Blumenblatt, in whose care Marie is supposed to be entrusted; and a Viennese widow named Mrs. Fischer who finds herself unexpectedly married again in Mme. Knorr's shop. Observing all of these events, and occasionally lending a hand in their convolution and/or resolution, is a cagey servant named Melchior who has arrived, Dolly Levi-like, to assist Zangler with all of his difficulties. It all adds up to a marvelously complicated plot; as Zangler himself says at the beginning of the play, if these people aren't careful, they will wind up with a farce on their hands.
And so they do. As masterfully written by Mr. Stoppard, On the Razzle is indeed the farce to end all farces: if there's a place to hide, then someone's hiding there; if there's an identity to mistake, then someone's mistaken it; if there's a meaning to misconstrue, then someone's misconstrued it. An aura of merry lunacy pervades On the Razzle from start to finish, resulting in a satisfying set of adventures and romances for all of its participants, and non-stop laughter for the lucky reader/audience.
The puns, double entendres, and silly epigrams flow with speed and regularity. Here's a typical line: "He'll alter her before dessert....er, desert her before the altar."
The familiar story revolves around a parsimonious and provincial old merchant called Zangler, who has decided to spend the day in Vienna so that he can march in a Grocers Association Parade in Vienna and also so that he can call on his intended bride, Madame Knorr, the proprietress of a lady's hat shop. He places his store in the charge of his chief clerk Weinberl and the apprentice clerk Christopher; these two take advantage of Zangler's absence by closing up at lunchtime and heading to Vienna for an adventure of their own. Of course, once they get to the big city they find themselves in the midst of Zangler's parade; when they run away to avoid being spotted by their cantankerous employer, they dodge into Mme. Knorr's shop.
Matters are complicated by Zangler's young niece and ward Marie, who wants to marry a young man named Sonders without her uncle's permission; Zangler's dotty relative Miss Blumenblatt, in whose care Marie is supposed to be entrusted; and a Viennese widow named Mrs. Fischer who finds herself unexpectedly married again in Mme. Knorr's shop. Observing all of these events, and occasionally lending a hand in their convolution and/or resolution, is a cagey servant named Melchior who has arrived, Dolly Levi-like, to assist Zangler with all of his difficulties. It all adds up to a marvelously complicated plot; as Zangler himself says at the beginning of the play, if these people aren't careful, they will wind up with a farce on their hands.
And so they do. As masterfully written by Mr. Stoppard, On the Razzle is indeed the farce to end all farces: if there's a place to hide, then someone's hiding there; if there's an identity to mistake, then someone's mistaken it; if there's a meaning to misconstrue, then someone's misconstrued it. An aura of merry lunacy pervades On the Razzle from start to finish, resulting in a satisfying set of adventures and romances for all of its participants, and non-stop laughter for the lucky reader/audience.
The puns, double entendres, and silly epigrams flow with speed and regularity. Here's a typical line: "He'll alter her before dessert....er, desert her before the altar."
May 3, 2022
On the Razzle is a transposition into English – rather than a translation – of an Austrian play. It is a relatively little-known work by Stoppard, although as a 1981 production (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern having been 1964) it is not exactly early.
On the Razzle is pure knockabout farce with lots of word-games, usually based on word confusions (bitte/bitter; danke/danker/dankest; Hungary/hungry; consommé/consummate; hansome cabman/handsome cabman), and confusion of characters.
This means it really needs stage performance; reading the playscript requires imagination of how it would look on stage, and that is difficult. Even more difficult is imagining the fast pace which is required for this sort of play.
Despite these difficulties, On the Razzle is enjoyable to read, if mainly to share Stoppard’s sense of fun as he plays with language and piles on the improbabilities.
On the Razzle is pure knockabout farce with lots of word-games, usually based on word confusions (bitte/bitter; danke/danker/dankest; Hungary/hungry; consommé/consummate; hansome cabman/handsome cabman), and confusion of characters.
This means it really needs stage performance; reading the playscript requires imagination of how it would look on stage, and that is difficult. Even more difficult is imagining the fast pace which is required for this sort of play.
Despite these difficulties, On the Razzle is enjoyable to read, if mainly to share Stoppard’s sense of fun as he plays with language and piles on the improbabilities.
July 4, 2025
What a hilarious script. Incredibly well written, blending the trickery of language with an amusing plot. After reading I am very much inclined to watch a real production of this. This was the first comedic play I have read but will not be the last.
September 13, 2019
A riot, very enjoyable - though not without bittersweet thoughts on life.
December 6, 2023
2/6 points, play-script, no way near as good as Nestroy
September 16, 2024
One false move and we could have a farce on our hands.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews