About the work
Der konfuse Zauberer oder Treue und Flatterhaftigkeit (The Confused Magician, or Faithfulness and Fickleness) is an original three-act magic play with songs by Johann Nestroy, first performed on 26 September 1832 at the Theater an der Wien, with music by Adolf Müller. Nestroy himself played the magician Schmafu at the premiere.
Plot
The magician Schmafu once abandoned Faithfulness for Fickleness, and Faithfulness responds by putting him into a long magic sleep with the help of an enchanted ring. The clumsy Konfusius Stockfisch gets hold of the ring, and his constant magical blunders keep creating new complications until Schmafu's fate between the two women is finally decided.
Cultural significance
As one of Nestroy's earlier magic plays, Der konfuse Zauberer still belongs to the old Viennese tradition of Zaubertheater that Nestroy increasingly abandoned in later years in favour of more realistic farces. With 24 performances, it was a solid if unspectacular success.