Standing on the shore of Lake Wolfgang in Northern Austria, the White Horse Inn was a famous place of call for tourists.  In the play we see it first early one morning prior to 1914, but the peaceful idyll of the opening scene is soon dispelled by the arrival of noisy and hungry visitors.

For Leopold, the head waiter, life is all turmoil – but that is largely the fault of his passion for Frau Josepha, the high-spirited landlady, whose response is not encouraging.

The arrival of Mr Grinkle, a prosperous business man from Oldham, England, sparks off a heap of complications, for other visitors include Valentine Sutton, solicitor to Grinkle’s deadly rival in the underwear trade.  Grinkle is a rough diamond, but we see no roughness about his daughter Ottoline; neither does Sutton, though that smart young gentleman is supposed to have his best attentions reserved for Josepha.

Leopold is not slow to prompt Grinkle and Sutton in ways calculated to serve his own romantic ends, but before his schemes can mature he is sacked for disobedience and announces in a goodbye song that he will join the Foreign Legion.

A new twist for Mr Grinkle is the arrival from Hammersmith of Mr Sigismund Smith, son of his hated trade competitor, and there is quite a build-up before Leopold re-enters the plot.  By sheer audacity, aided by luck, he secures the Emperor’s patronage of the White Horse Inn and, as the only available expert of emperors, graciously condescends to resume his duties as head waiter.

Even now, Leopold’s way in love is by no means smooth, and a painful scene resulting from his jealousy occurs in the presence of the Emperor, to whom the whole community has given a tremendous welcome, complete with band.

In the end, however, Josepha is disillusioned on the subject of Sutton’s heart, and Leopold gets much more than the reference for which he has asked.  Mr Grinkle seems to be paying for the champagne.