Readers familiar with theatre will recognize the basic story as the same one behind Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker. It is a reworking of an eighteenth century Viennese play, Einen Fux will er sich machen, by Johann Nestroy. Stoppard takes a slightly different approach to the material than Wilder, engaging in more word play and mixed meanings, but in the end, the madcap nature of the play remains. A fun read. One wonders if the word play would come across as well on stage, as in some cases, it is only by seeing the variant spellings that I realized the pun. ( )