About the work
A tragicomic quodlibet in two acts by Johann Nestroy with its own accompanying prelude, "Der Theaterdiener, die Benefizvorstellung und das Quodlibet"; it premiered on 23 May 1832 at the Theater an der Wien.
Plot
In the prelude, director Pfauenfeder is preparing a benefit performance when a dog tears up the intended manuscript. Theatre servant Strobelkopf saves the evening by assembling a new quodlibet from old play collections, collaging scenes and characters from famous works such as "Hamlet" and "Don Juan".
Cultural significance
The actual text of the quodlibet has not survived. Quodlibets of this kind generally ran for only a handful of performances anyway, since audiences needed to know the original plays being quoted to catch the jokes — this one had four.