Skirted hobby horse

Annese Pantaleo

Fritz von Ostini (Friedrich von Ostini, aka Fritz von Ostini)

Josserand Louis (aka Josserand père)

Parfaict Claude

Object theatre

Polichinelle, Pierrot, and Arlequin, want to marry Colombine, the daughter of the wealthy Cassandre. The three suitors are alike in their mediocrity; Cassandre asks his daughter to choose the one that will be her husband. To win her hand, Polichinelle gifts her a ham, Pierrot a bottle of wine, and Arlequin a dandelion bouquet. She violently rejects Polichinelle and Pierrot, and chooses Arlequin. Polichinelle and Pierrot team up to isolate Arlequin, murder him and bury his corpse. They plan on pretending to be Arlequin and his valet in order to marry Colombine and get hold of her father’s money. However, Arlequin, exhumed and reanimated by a pig, arrives just in time to interrupt the wedding between Pierrot (who took his appearance) and Colombine. Pierrot and Arlequin made the pig, the only witness of their crime, disappear (they ate it), so Cassandre does not know what is the truth and who the real Arlequin is. He will accept as the real Arlequin the one who will bring him 1,000 écus. However, Arlequin is poor, and Pierrot gained 1,000 écus after selling his kitchenware: he will marry Colombine the next day. Distressed by their conscience and their gut issues, Pierrot and Polichinelle suffer from a terrible Cauchemar (Nightmare) accompanied with a Gendarme-Saucisse (Sausage-Constable) and a Commissaire-Andouille (Andouille-Superintendent) who repeatedly hit them. Polichinelle and Pierrot call for help, admit to their crimes and express remorse. Colombine and Arlequin can now marry.

France

Paris

Duranty, ilustration for "La Tragédie d'Arlequin" (Théâtre des marionnettes du Jardin des Tuileries, 1862).

La Tragédie d'Arlequin

Jonson Ben

Since 2019, the Musée des Arts de la Marionnette (MAM) has been collaborating with the Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 and the team of Didier Plassard, professor and head of the PuppetPlays European research programme. 
As part of this project, the MAM - Gadagne documentation centre has made its collection of Guignol repertoires available for digitisation, analysis and distribution on the Puppetplays online platform.
The most popular Guignol plays are comedies such as Le Déménagement, Les Frères Koch and Le Pot de confiture. But other genres have also contributed to the puppet's success, including fairy tales, military plays and parodies. 
The lectures and readings on this day aim to show the huge variety of these shows, the diversity of their audiences and the contexts in which they were performed. The recent discovery of manuscripts performed by puppeteers from Lyon in Paris between 1866 and 1868 will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the language of Guignol and its evolution.
PuppetPlays is a research project funded by the European Union as part of its Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under Grant Agreement 835193.

Conference 7 - What research can do for Guignol

Attack

Cabinet médical

Civil servant

Deaf

Drugs

Evolution

Freikorps

Hunting

Hygiène

Intelligent

Lamp

Patriotism

Rain

Social classes

Vault

Vienna

Wealth

Will

Young girl

Biblioteca comunale dell'archiginnasio

Huma-Num

IdRef

Isidore

Jagiellonian Library

Münchner Stadtmuseum

Musée de la Vie Wallonne

Musée des Arts de la Marionnette - Gadagne

Nakala

Pôle International de la Marionnette – Jacques Félix

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Université Haute Alsace

The shepherdess Philis is loved by Silvandre, whom she loves in return, but she is also courted by Microton. Dorine promises Philis that she will ask the magician Orcan to calm Microton's ardour. Surprising Philis and Silvandre's love dialogue, Microton calls on Orcan to take revenge on Silvandre and force Philis to love him. Orcan performs various magic tricks. He has prepared the potion, but Microton refuses to go and thank the demons. Orcan tries to seduce Elise, who rejects him. Philis reveals to Silvandre that Microton has played the role of a guardian for her. The god of love appears and promises to help Silvandre. Elise convinces Orcan to support Silvandre and Philis' love and to cure Microton of his madness. Orcan forces Microton to go and see the Demons; il conjures up Goblins, Serpents, a Dragon, Demons that frighten Microton and make him give up Philis. Microton announces that he will devote himself only to his flock. Orcan laughs at him. Microton gets angry, but he realises that he has been magically cured of his love for Philis and joins the wedding banquet. Microton wants to eat some of the dishes, but they turn into snakes and toads. The appearance of demons makes Microton run away. Shepherds and shepherdesses sing and dance.

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Skirted hobby horse

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