One frequently encounters the argument that Johann Nestroy's plays do not travel well. Their critical examination of sociopolitical conditions and events in the Hapsburg Empire in the mid nineteenth century, their profuse allusions to theatrical culture in Vienna at the time, and--Nestroy's critics maintain--especially their abundant and ingenious use of a presumably prototypical and highly nuanced Viennese dialect supposedly limit the plays' breadth of appeal and their longevity. Although Nestroy's contemporaries celebrated his acting and writing abilities, elevating his work on and for the stage to legendary proportions, subsequent generations of authors, actors, and audiences allegedly find it increasingly difficult to understand and appreciate his unique talents and accomplishments. To be sure, Nestroy's eighty-three dramas are intricately tied to the political and cultural milieu of mid-nineteenth-century Vienna. Yet despite the unmistakable role that Vienna played in his life and work, Nestroy's career as an actor and author, as...