In 1838 Grillparzer produced his only comedy, "Woe to him who lies" (). But "Woe to him who lies", in spite of its humour of situation, its sparkling dialogue and its original premise — a hero who wins by invariably telling the truth, where his enemies invariably expect him to lie – was too strange to meet with approval in its day. Its premiere on 6 March 1838 was a failure. This was a severe blow to the poet, who turned his back forever on the German theatre.