- 1 Introduction What use, after all, is Man, if not to teach God His lessons (Shaffer, Amadeus) Peter Shaffer's psychological drama Amadeus has aroused controversy ever since its first performance on 2 November 1979 at the National Theatre in London. It has met with enthusiastic reception worldwide and has been translated into twenty-two languages (Plunka, 173). The film version, released in ...www.fask.uni-mainz.de/user/makuro/teksty/amadeus/1.html