On the Argentinian prairie, Lord Jesus travels atop a donkey, accompanied by Saint Peter struggling to match their pace on foot. Along the way, “the mount” loses a horseshoe, so the travelers seek the assistance of an old blacksmith named Misery, accompanied by his dog Poverty. However, the duo has no money to pay for the blacksmith’s service, so Jesus offers to grant his three wishes. Against Peter's advice ("Ask for Heaven, blacksmith!"), Misery uses them to obtain magical power over three objects: a saddle, a snuffbox, and a nearby tree. Later, the blacksmith regrets not asking for youth and “a bit of money to start with”, so he makes a pact with Jesus’ competitor: the devil.
Słobodzianek's play follows a structured pattern of three. That is why there are three wishes, and three time periods: 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Each time, the rejuvenated Blacksmith tries to make the most of the time he's been given, pursuing his vision of a joyful life: playing truco (a cheat-based card game), sipping tinto (wine), and dancing malambo (a dance of gauchos), in the company of his beloved Lola. Each time old age catches up with him, he uses one of his enchanted objects to outsmart the devil and force him to again make a pact with him. However, with each successive life, the craftsman feels increasingly severe disappointment: in the 20th century, tango has replaced malambo in his favorite bar, and Lola's singing has become a paid service. The current century is dominated by watered-down tinto, tacky disco-samba and equally kitschy "luxurious" club decor.
This time, the blacksmith tricks the entire retinue of hell led by Beelzebub, imprisoning them in his snuffbox. From Jesus' perspective, this development proves troublesome, as the existence of evil is a part of the divine plan. Therefore, Christ comes to the devils' rescue, imploring the Blacksmith to release them. In an accusatory monologue, the craftsman lays blame on Jesus for the corruption of the once-simpler world that existed before his coming, because, as the motto of the play, taken from the Bible, says:
“no is no, and yes is yes.”
The play hypnotizes the viewer with a dreamlike language steeped in repetitive phrases, swaying to the rhythmic beats of malambo and playing truco. The stifling atmosphere of the "hellish bar", from which there is no escape, is broken with the author's characteristic sense of humor.
Inspired by an Argentine legend, and referencing its Western counterpart in the tale of Faust, Słobodzianek's play is a story about the world's losing battle with civilization, whose destructive impact has led to the loss, or at best trivialization, of traditional cultural values.