A fastnachtspiel is a "Mardi Gras play"—sort of an April Fool joke—and Hans Sachs, the Meistersinger of Nuremberg, wrote many. This is one of his funniest, and this translation sticks closely to the German original.

A doctor is called to a tavern to handle an emergency illness. He realizes he must operate immediately and lays the horribly bloated patient on the counter and cuts open his stomach right there in front of everybody—and removes an assortment of odd-shaped dolls, fuzzy snakes, and square heads. These are the "Narren" (follies) which made the man sick; but they have made audiences laugh for 400 years. Narrenschneiden is an untranslatable German word meaning "the surgical removal of the follies that cause a man to make a fool of himself."

Written by the inimitable Hans Sachs and translated and adapted by I. E. Clark, this fastnachtspiel is ideal for assembly programs, night of one-acts, contests, and Children's Theatre. Das Narrenschneiden was written by Hans Sachs in 1557, and the cast was made up of three men: Der Arzt (The Doctor), Der Knecht (The Assistant), and Der Kranke (The Patient). Any of the roles may be played by a man or a woman. The discussion of costume and set in the Director's Script (prompt book) will help each troupe decide whether to present the play in a modern setting or in a sixteenth century setting. For all groups. Very simple set. (If a tavern setting is used, tavern patrons may be added as extras.)

"We have experienced such success with our production of The Narrenschneiden (which we did 'in the round' for our Night of One Acts) that we are scheduling two more performances."—Ferguson High School, Newport News, Virginia. "We certainly enjoyed doing the play—the audiences had fun and so did we." —Laura L. McKenzie, Stage Sixty-Six, Tucumcari, New Mexico.

See also: Adaptations of Ancient Scripts