About the work
Weh dem, der lügt! (Woe to Him Who Lies!) is a five-act comedy by Franz Grillparzer. The idea goes back to an anecdote from his school days; written between 1834 and May 1837, the play premiered on 6 March 1838 at Vienna's Burgtheater.
Plot
The kitchen boy Leon promises Bishop Gregor to free his nephew Atalus from a nobleman's captivity without telling a single lie. With the help of the count's daughter Edrita he manages the escape, outwitting his pursuers purely through ambiguous wordplay rather than falsehoods.
Cultural significance
The premiere was a scandalous failure: the audience grew increasingly indifferent, the nobility felt targeted, and the play was withdrawn after three performances. Grillparzer largely withdrew from public theatrical life afterwards. Revivals from 1879 in Vienna and at Berlin's Deutsches Theater helped establish the play's present standing as one of the classic German comedies.