'Don't spoil her, Oskar, or you'll pay dear for it. You wouldn't believe what I had to put up with in my marriage. Not because madam, my wife, God bless her, was a vicious-tongued cow, but because I was too decent. Never lose your authority! Keep your distance! Patriarchy, not matriarchy! Keep your head up and your thumbs pressed firmly down. Ave Caesar; morituri te salutant!'

Set against the sentimental backdrop of the Vienna Woods and to the distant tune of a Strauss waltz, a community steeped in bigotry concerns itself with love affairs, petty squabbles, jealousies and personal tragedy. Meanwhile society at large, haunted by inflation, goes reeling towards Fascism.

This energetic, hugely entertaining epic premiered in Berlin in 1931 as Nazi forces were gaining in strength.

Tales from the Vienna Woods, in this new version, was premiered at the National Theatre on the Olivier stage in October 2003.

Translated by: David Harrower