About the work
Farce with songs in three acts by Johann Nestroy after the French vaudeville 'Trois Épiciers' by Lockroy and Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois (premiered 20 January 1840 at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris), first performed on 26 February 1845 at the Theater an der Wien as a benefit performance for the author. Nestroy stayed close to his source, cutting a few songs and adapting the dialogue locally; the music was composed by Adolf Müller senior.
Plot
Three spice-merchant friends — Schwefel, Baumöl and Zichori — distrust each other's young wives while each is certain of his own. The young shop assistant Viktor is courted by all three wives for different reasons, and an intercepted note brings the tangle to light, yet in the end every husband remains convinced of his own wife's virtue.
Cultural significance
Contemporary reviews were largely unfavourable — Der Humorist called it 'one of the dullest, flattest and least witty works' — with only Der Wanderer praising it as 'a genuinely good farce'. Because of its strictly parallel triple plot, the play is still considered especially demanding in textual precision among Nestroy ensembles today, including the Nestroy Spiele Schwechat.