On the Razzle (play)
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On the Razzle is Tom Stoppard's 1981 adaptation of Johann Nestroy's Viennese play Einen Jux will er sich machen (roughly, "He Will Have His Way"). Nestroy's play already had been adapted by Thornton Wilder twice: the first version, entitled The Merchant of Yonkers (1938), was far more faithful to the original material, but the second version, renamed The Matchmaker, added the crucial character of Dolly Gallagher Levi, who later became the heroine of the Jerry Herman musical hit, Hello, Dolly!.
[edit] Plot
Stoppard's farce consists of two hours of slapstick shenanigans, mistaken identities, misdirected orders, malapropisms, double entendres, and romance.
Zangler, the twisted-tongued proprietor of an upscale grocery store in a small Austrian village, plans to marry Mme. Knorr, the proprietor of a women's clothing shop in Vienna. In preparation for new life in the big city, he orders a new wardrobe and hires the fast-talking Melchior as a personal assistant. He arranges to send his niece Marie to his sister-in-law in Vienna, Miss Blumenblatt, to protect her from the penniless Sonders who is courting her. As he departs for Vienna, Zangler entrusts the operation of his business to his garrulous head clerk, Weinberl, and his naive apprentice, Christopher, who decide to go "on the razzle" to Vienna.
Almost immediately, Weinberl and Christopher catch sight of Zangler and disguise themselves as mannequins in the window of Mme. Knorr's House of Fashion. Circumstances propel the two into a fancy restaurant in the company of Mme. Knorr and her customer, Frau Fischer (who has been roped into pretending she is Wienberl's new wife), the same restaurant to which Zangler intends to take Mme. Knorr. Several sprinting waiters, a sexually-obsessed coachman and a carefully-positioned Chinese screen come into play, and things finally seem to be settling down when the eloping Sonders and Marie enter the scene and the chaos starts anew. The various characters flee to Miss Blumenblatt's, who mistakes Wienberl and the disguised Christopher as Sonders and Marie. Eventually, all is sorted out, Christopher and Weinberl make it back to the store in time to prevent Zangler from ever knowing they were gone, and everything solves itself: Sonders comes into an inheritance and is allowed to marry Marie, Wienberl and Frau Fischer discover they have been romantic pen pals all along, Christopher is promoted, Zangler and Mme. Knorr finalize their engagement, and life returns to normal after one night "on the razzle".
[edit] Production History
On the Razzle opened on September 18, 1981 at the National Theatre in London, with Felicity Kendal switching genders to star as Christopher. The production won a Laurence Olivier Award for Peter Wood as Best Director. The American premiere was directed by Douglas C. Wager at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. in September, 1982, featuring Yeardley Smith.
The play frequently is performed in regional theaters and high schools in the United States. A successful off-Broadway production was mounted at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre in 1999.
The play is currently running at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, starring Rex Young as Weinberl, Tasso Feldman as Christopher, Tony DeBruno as Zangler and G. Valmont Thomas as Melchior.
In the UK The Little Theatre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear (near Newcastle) will be presenting On The Razzle during the 10th - 15th December 2007.
Shiphay Amateur Dramatic Society will be performing 'On the Razzle' at St Johns Church Hall, Cadewell Lane, Torquay between 13 - 15th March 2008. Popular Shiphay amateur Lee-James Bovey stars as Melchior.
April 17th-20th, 2008; Florida Community College of Jacksonville will be presenting 'On the Razzle' in the Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts.
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