Professor Gollwitz, a small-town high school professor struggling with financial and domestic worries, has succumbed to his secret passion for theater. When the theater director Striese happened to be visiting the city with his traveling theater troupe, he found out that the professor was hiding the play THE ROBBER OF THE SABINE WOMEN in a drawer from his wife. The Schreientheater director Striese, who is quick-witted in all situations, elicits the stroke of genius from the author, who initially refuses, and prepares its performance. Before the play sees the light of day, the professor's wife returns unexpectedly from the spa, and the family catastrophe with impending embarrassment takes its course.