Aurélia and Eularia’s guardian, Scaramouche, has imprisoned them because he would like to get hold of their belongings and marry Eularia. Cinthio and Octave, with the help of Arlequin and Trivellin, set up a series of ploys to see the two girls. One of those ploys consists in a curiosité show. They pressure Scaramouche into forsaking his ambitions. The third act is set at the Foire Saint-Germain. There, Arlequin disguises himself as the puppeteer Brioché and performs several magic tricks.

Curiosité

Not specified

France

Paris

Printed summary

Animated object

Tutor

Wedding

Fair

Chimney sweep

Enema

Magic tricks

Toothpulling

Infant

Comical

French

Il regalo delle dame

Scaramouche

Cintio

Arlecchino

Octave

Trivelin

Brioché

Moor

Blind

Marquis

Tooth Puller

Mask (masked type)

Judge

Chimney sweeper

Metamorphosis

Theatre within the theatre

Magic act

Disguise

Imbroglio

Misunderstanding

Lazzi

Word for another

Le Régal des dames

The ladies' Treat

Polichinelle’s wife has just died, and he asks his Compère (Companion) if he would like to marry him. The Compère refuses and suggests that Polichinelle buy a girl from Bonhomme Tatepoule – someone who sells girls for a living. Compère blindfolds Polichinelle so that he plays blind man’ buff and chooses a girl this way. Instead, Polichinelle catches a butterfly. A demon comes, dressed as a bundle of sticks, and Polichinelle grabs him. When he recovers his sight, Polichinelle gives up on his plan to remarry. Men and women peasants dance at the end of the play.

Rod and string marionette

Printed

Prospecting

Trade

Trap

Farcical

Polichinelle

The Interpreter

Butterfly

Devil

Peasant

Peasant (female)

Apparition of the Devil

Blind character

Ballet

Dialogue with a character in the audience

Polichinelle colin-maillard

Polichinelle playing blind man's buff

Catarina, a matchmaker, tells Zeferino, a barber, that the young Filomena would like to marry him. Zeferino is delighted and rewards the matchmaker with one hundred escudos to buy snuff. Filomena, singing, comes in to deliver bread. Zeferino confesses his love for her and promises to marry her and to never beat her. They both sing and dance. Zeferino wants to take advantage of Filomena’s charms and announces that she will have to work after her wedding, contrary to her hopes. He takes a stick and beats her. She runs away, and Zeferino tells the audience that other young women could suffer the same fate.

Single rod marionettes

Adults

Portugal

Borba

Évora

Money

Deception

Love

Women's condition

Matchmaker

Erotic

Portuguese

Aria

Seduction scene

Erotic scene

Blow-with-a-stick

Filomena e Zeferino

The fisherman Colin finds a golden vase in his nets. The genie Elemaliga is imprisoned inside it. As a gesture of gratitude for having delivered him, Elemaliga bestows magical powers to Colin. With this magical help, Colin triumphs over his rival Philippe, recovers the fortune he should have inherited and marries Lisbette.

Body shadows

Marion de Salins Pierre

Swindling

Fishing

Seduction

Inheritance

Fantasy

L'Heureuse Pêche, cover page

Comédie pour les ombres à scènes changeantes

Fisherman

Genie

Apparition of a genius

Disappearance

Love rivalry

Song

Invisible character

Final song

L'Heureuse Pêche

The Happy Catch

Faust invokes Satan, who appears as Mephistopheles. Faust devotes himself to the devil in exchange for the accomplishment of his every wish. He also demands that demons be at the service of his servant, Hänneschen, who will henceforth have the spirits of Parlicko and Parlacko at his disposal. In an inn, Faust gets angry at a prying student and makes a fire appear in his glass of wine. After that, he asks Mephistopheles to take him and Hänneschen first to Mount Olympus and then to a beautiful garden. Only one unfulfilled desire remains for Faust: finding a wife. Hänneschen seizes this opportunity to ask Parlicko and Parlacko to bring him his beloved Bärbel so he can marry her. Mephistopheles brings Faust the beautiful Helena, but when he tries to kiss her, she changes into an evil creature. The room turns into an infernal cave, and Faust is doomed amidst the flames.

Winters Johann Christoph

Germany

Cologne

Sorcery

Perlicke

Garden

Fear

Lust

Tragic

Fantastic

Title page of the play in the periodical Das Kloster, 1847

German

Eine Geschichte der Vorzeit

Faust

Hänneschen

Domestic servant

Student

Innkeeper

Satan

Mephistopheles

Spirit

Truitonne quarrels with her sister Florine – she is unhappy with her own name and reproaches her for being loved by everyone while she is despised. She would like to inflict pain on others and to be loved anyway. Their godfather Enchanteur Rotomago (Sorcerer Rotomago) announces that he would like them to marry: Truitonne with Prince Charmant (Prince Charming) and Florine with himself. Gilles, Prince Charmant’s servant , comes in and announces Prince Charmant’s arrival, but at first the characters mistake him for his master. When Charmant arrives, he immediately notices Florine, while Rotomago tries to draw attention to Truitonne. A Fée (fairy) steps in to warn him that Florine is the woman he must love. Rotomago bribes Gilles so that he helps him set up a trap. He will have Charmant believe that Florine has asked to see him. But taking advantage of the dark, they will make Truitonne come to the rendezvous instead. Thus, Truitonne poses as Florine and Charmant gives her a ring as a token of his love. As he believes that he is speaking to Florine, Charmant wishes out loud that a devil would carry her sister away, and his wish is fulfilled – a devil carries Florine away, but Charmant launches himself after her. Once at the cemetery, Charmant and Gilles meet an apparition of her that tells them that Florine is still alive. Rotomago asks Charmant to marry Truitonne, and when he refuses, he punishes him by changing him into a bird for seven years. Florine is made captive in a tower under the supervision of Gilles, who has them believe that Charmant died of sorrow and of an indigestion of rum babas. A blue bird (Oiseau bleu) enters her room, and Florine understands him to be Prince Charmant. He takes hold of a cane and hits Gilles. Rotomago, Truitonne and Gilles go after Oiseau bleu. The latter comes back to Florine and receives a letter brought by a Bourdon (bumblebee), in which he is told about an attack on his kingdom. Gilles glimpses Oiseau, shoots him with a gun then puts him in a magical coach that takes him to his own castle. There, he convinces the Seigneurs (lords) of his court to let him lead an army to battle. Rotomago appears and offers to give him back his human form on condition that he marries Truitonne. Charmant agrees in order to protect his subjects. As Charmant and Truitonne’s marriage is about to be celebrated, a Génie (Genie) appears with Florine. He transforms the Enchanteur into a turkey and convinces Gilles and Truitonne to marry, while Charmant will marry Florine.

String marionette

Manuscript

Magic

Enchantment

Jealousy

Treason

Hunting

L'Oiseau bleu, first page of the manuscript.

Princess

Magician

Servant

Gille

Prince

Fairy

Lord

Set that comes to life

Situation comedy

Off-stage voice

Graveyard scene

Dance

Flying machine

Talking animal

Entering with vehicle

Letter

Gunshot

L'Oiseau bleu

The blue Bird

Casperl gets drunk with the hunter Thomerl and Thomerl offers to put Casperl’s wife Grethl to the test: Casperl has to fake an illness that will lead to his death, and Thomerl, disguised as a doctor, will come and certify the death. As soon as Casperl is pronounced dead, Grethl tries to console herself in the arms of Lieutenant Pulvermann. The fake dead man is resurrected, a fight ensues in which Pulvermann is killed and the corpse is taken backstage. A police officer comes to seize Casperl, but husband and wife join forces against the impetuous man, who is forced to give in to the violence. To celebrate their reconciliation, Casperl and Grethl go to the inn, where they also meet with Thomerl.

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Household

Philosophy

Beer

Wine

Gluttony

Doctor

Drunkenness

Medicine

Grief

Scatology

Reconciliation

Tavern

Ein beispielloses Spektakelstück

Kasperl

Thomerl

Madame Kasperl

Lieutenant

Police officer

Monologue

Macaronism

Spying scene

Parody of formal language

Aside

Fake death

Dream

Brawl

Murder on stage

Slaps

Die Prüfung

The test

On the advice of his companion Bluteck, the cruel knight Barbe-Bleue (Blaubart) decides to remarry for the seventh time and kidnaps Bertha, the eldest daughter of the rich Geldsack. The next day, Barbe-Bleue leaves the castle and gives Bertha all the keys, including the one to the secret cabinet, which he nevertheless forbids her to enter. But Bertha disobeys him and discovers the decapitated bodies of his previous wives. To punish her for her curiosity, Barbe-Bleue sentences her to death. She is saved by her former suitor Hugo von Hohenfels, who, with the help of the servant Kasperl, enters the castle and kills Barbe-Bleue.

Young audiences

Cruelty

Bear

Romanticism

Knighthood

Young girl

Deafness

Curiosity

Kidnapping

Murder

Dramatic

Parodistic

Barbe-Bleue

Knight

Ecuyer

Dialogue of the deaf

Blaubart

Bluebeard

Guignol – Vincent’s servant – has lost his wife Madelon, who ate a melon and died of food poisoning. Vincent plans on having him marry Louison – Gnafron’s daughter – so that his two servants are bound to one another. But Guignol deeply misses his wife, with whom he was always quarreling. He leaves his master’s house with the intention of going down to the Underworld to get her back. However, Gnafron finds Guignol sitting in a wine shop. After an enjoyable meal, they go back to their master. As the marriage settlement is being drafted, Louison is delighted to have finally found a husband. She pushes Guignol in front of her with a hairpin and promises him that she will be as mean as his first wife. But Guignol manages to escape before the contract is signed: Gnafron and Louison chase after him, while Vincent decides to sit at a table to eat with his neighbour Durand.
Guignol is exhausted while looking for Madelon. He falls asleep and sees the Génie of goodness, who presents him in his dream with an image of his wife accompanied by an imp. When he wakes up, Guignol summons the Génie, who warns him about the dangers that await. He also describes the five rivers of the Underworld. But Guignol is a proud man from Lyon: he knows how to swim, and he is not scared! Before Charon lets him on his rowboat for free (Guignol promises that with such prices he will be a most loyal client), he warns the hero that Madelon is Proserpine (Proserpina)’s companion, and Proserpine might not give her back to him. Guignol insists and repeats that he is not afraid of Cerbère (Cerberus). In fact, he means to coax its seven heads with bread and cheese. When he meets Pluton (Pluto), Guignol asks for his wife to be given back to him. The king of the Underworld remembers that the man appealing to him is protected by the Génie of goodness and thus summons his wife. Proserpine refuses to let Madelon go—she clings on to her as to her meanest companion. Then she yields, on condition that the wife consents to it. Madelon arrives, hits her husband and hurls insults at him. But Guignol provides good arguments: he has just come into an inheritance of sugar, coffee, eau de vie and absinthe… After thinking it over for a few minutes, Madelon agrees to follow him, on the flying dragon that Pluton lends Guignol to take them back up to the surface. Before they leave, the king of the Underworld promises to organise a feast for them. They are delighted about the idea, but the flames of the Underworld force them to flee before they can taste anything.

La Descente de Guignol aux Enfers

Guignol's Trip to the Underworld