The Underpants: A Play by Carl Sternheim

by Steve Martin and Carl Sternheim

Book Overview

Theobald Maske has an unusual problem: his wife's underpants won't stay on. One Sunday morning they fall to her ankles right in the middle of town--a public scandal Mortified, Theo swears to keep her at home until she can find some less unruly undies. Amid this chaos he's trying to rent a room in their flat. The prospective lodgers have some underlying surprises of their own. In The Underpants, Steve Martin brings his comic genius and sophisticated...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786888245
• ISBN13: 9780786888245
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Underpants

I wanted this book for a class and received it within 3 days...speedy delivery! Hilarious adaptation of a older German play written by Carl Sternheim. I really enjoyed reading and acting out scenes from this show.

Best play I have ever read

If you're like me you stopped reading plays after high school or college english, and for good reason, they stunk. This remake by Steve Martin is well written and quite funny so buy it without fear, and perhaps put on a play for your friends and family. Well maybe not that, but if you were to choose a play for adults this would be it.

Unsoiled Underpants

Having read some of Martin's works of fiction like "Shopgirl" and "The Plessure of My Company", I looked forward to reading his plays. While Martin's plays are often hard to find in book stores, they are worth finding. "Underpants" is an adapted play that puts past views of sexuality into humorous perspective. When a woman's underwear is exposed in public, she becomes the subject of many men's lust. In reality, she only wants to be the subject of her husband's lust. The lustful admirers of the woman and her exposed panties become tenants in the same building, which brings in new income to the struggling family. While the extra-marital affairs never come to fruition, the plot does yield to a happy ending. While I can not give Martin all of the credit for this work since it is an adaptation, I can say that Martin's humor gave it a delightful spin. I found myself laughing aloud at many points in the book. If sexual innuendo does not offend you, you should enjoy this work.

These Underpants Don't Stink

This play was wonderfully written. Although short, it was laugh out loud funny, and delightfully racy! Steve Martin once again shows his comic genius in the adaptation of Carl Sternheim's play.

This is One Very Very Funny Play!!

This play, adapted by Steve Martin from a crazy old German farce almost 100 years old, is fresh, bawdy, smart, and really really funny. Anyone who loves Steve Martin's literate-kooky mind will adore this! It was a hit in New York last year. It should be done at every theater around the country, and soon!