Automaton

Josse Pierre-Charles

Mahal Günther

Niccolini Francesco

Gailler Gabriel

Prologus addresses the spectators in order to get their attention. Argumentator then summarises the story that is about to be performed. Jonas enters and expresses his fear that God might punish Israel for it has wandered away from God and it now lives in sin. God appears and orders Jonas to go to the large city of Nineveh in order to tell its inhabitants that they must repent in the span of forty days, for God is prepared to punish them. Jonas refuses and explains that he has already tried in vain to set Israel back on the right path. He embarks on a boat but a tempest threatens to sink it. The sailors look for Jonas, who is asleep in the hold, and they ask him to pray to his god to save them. They draw lots and Jonas is chosen: he advises them to throw him overboard for he might be the cause of God’s wrath. A whale comes and swallows Jonas alive, and the boat sails away. The whale spits Jonas out. He thanks God for having been saved. God reappears and orders him to go preach in Nineveh again, adding that he forgives whoever he wants. Samuel, a Jewish prisoner in Nineveh, laments his fate and the sins of the city. Jonas arrives and tells him about the mission God has entrusted him with - to exhort the inhabitants to repent if they do not want to be punished. Then, he tells him about his adventure at sea and how he was swallowed by a whale. Once at the gate of Nineveh, Jonas is stopped by a guard who enquires about his intentions and tells him about the great size of the city. An Epicure appears and declares that one must eat, drink and live in constant pleasure. Jonas, standing in a square of the city, and encouraged by God, shouts three times at Nineveh, announcing the destruction of the city in forty days, should its inhabitants choose not to repent beforehand. Mean children come to mock him, but they are reprimanded by an employee of the city. The Bailiff makes enquiries about the situation; he takes Jonas’ prophecy seriously and orders the inhabitants of the city to repent and pray. Two peasants appear. One of them believes in Jonas' prediction, while the other does not. The same contrast is found between two virgins, and then two worried nobles. A big gourd seedling grows above Jonas to protect him from the burning sun. The Chancellor and the King arrive and they reflect on what they should do. The king decides to issue an edict which would force his subjects to repent, then gives up on his royal insignia, dons a sackcloth, and sprinkles ashes on himself in order to expiate his sins. On the fortieth day, the King presents himself before God who forgives them, moved by the sincerity of the repentance of the inhabitants of Nineveh. Jonas is angry about this turnaround, but he eventually submits to the divine decision. The play ends with an address to the audience which builds a link between Nineveh’s sins and those of the present, assuring that God will also forgive anyone who repents.

Germany

Ein lustigs, auch kurtzes, und nicht minder nutzes Spiel von der Bußpredigt Jona des Propheten zu Ninive, Und wie alles Volck der Stadt, seinen Worten glaubt, und ernstliche Buß gethan habe

Jonas

Rod puppet

Keller Therese

The ERC PuppetPlays database will be open to the public in Spring 2022. At the end of the project (September 2024), it will gather references to 2000 puppet plays for puppets and marionettes written in Western Europe from 1600 to the present.

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Biblioteca comunale dell'archiginnasio

Huma-Num

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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

Kasperl meets a communist with a red flag. The latter tries to win him over to his cause, but Kasperl, who at first thinks the communist is a bullfighter with a muleta, answers him on every point with a good-natured naivety: he thus manages to unmask the egoism of the other man, who, having run out of arguments, leaves, threatening Kasperl that he will be the first to be lynched at the next attempted putsch.

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