About the work
Der kurzweilige Hochzeitsvertrag is a comedy by the Benedictine friar Maurus Lindemayr, written in the Upper Austrian Hausruck dialect. Lindemayr wrote it in 1770 specifically for the visit of Marie Antoinette, who stopped at Lambach Abbey on her bridal journey from Vienna to France.
Plot
The play features characters from rural peasant life haggling over a marriage contract, offering a broadly comic counterpoint to the courtly world of the bride the piece was written to entertain.
Cultural significance
It premiered on 23 April 1770 in the abbey's baroque theatre, specially restored for the occasion and the only surviving baroque monastery theatre in Austria. The play is regarded as an important source for 18th-century Upper Austrian dialect and is still occasionally staged today by the Barocktheater Lambach ensemble.