Guignol embarks on a hot-air balloon set for the Moon, in order to escape poverty and make his fiancée’s dreams come true. The balloon takes him first to the Mer de Glace (a glacier in France), then close to the Sun, and finally to the Moon. Guignol is captured by the guards. But when he meets the king of the Moon, he succeeds in convincing him that it would be more profitable for him to keep him as an ally, since he could establish trades between the Moon and the Earth. Guignol also shows the king the power of firearms, which are manufactured on Earth. Firearms being a lot more effective than the low-tech weapons of the Moon, Guignol promises the king that they will help him subdue an enemy neighbour. He is then appointed general. Gnafron and Madelon eventually travel to the Moon too, and the play ends with a feast.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Lyon

Manuscript

Excessive drinking

Cosmic journey

Money

Gas balloon

Parachute

Communication

Bear

Trade

Army

Comical

Parodistic

Fantasy

First page of the handwritten manuscript of Guignol dans la Lune

French

Pièce féerique en 8 tableaux

Guignol

Gnafron

Madelon

Prosecutor

Queen

Prime Minister

Soldier

Change of social status

Allusion to current literary events

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Dialect as a social marker

Letter

Pyrotechnics

Guignol dans la Lune

Guignol on the Moon

Faggiolino and Sganapino are two miners on their way to work. Two burglars break into their house but, finding nothing to steal, set fire to it. When Faggiolino discovers this, he wants to commit suicide, but his good Genie descends on a cloud to tell him that the whole court of Granada is in mourning because Aurora, the King's daughter, has been turned into a shadow by the evil Genie. To stop this transformation, Faggiolino must travel to the Sun and the Moon to bring the king two talismans: a crown made of a sunbeam and a cloak studded with stars. Faggiolino travels on a hot-air balloon, and the gods Mars, Mercury and Morpheus help him to take possession of the talismans which he brings back to the king. After a fight between the two Genies, the Princess is transformed and the show ends with the celebration of her marriage to Faggiolino.

Italy

Bologna

Handwritten outline

Moon

Wedding

Quest

Crown

Coat

Genie

Latin Mythology

Test

Thief

Suicide

Transformation

Italian

Fagiolino

Sganapino

Courtier

Mars

Mercury

Goddess of the Night

Morpheus

Final wedding

Engulfment

Apparition of a genie

Apparition of a god

Fight

Fire

Metamorphosis

L'ascensione di Faggiolino nel regno del Sole e nel mondo della Luna

L'ascension de Faggiolino au royaume du Soleil et dans le monde de la Lune

Kaspar introduces himself and speaks to the children. The Star Princess (Sternenprinzessin) reproaches him for having made her wait. She wants to go back to the King, her father, and Kaspar has to follow her to their castle in the sky. A Policeman and a Peasant complain about the disorder and the noise caused by Kaspar. The Princess defends Kaspar, rejects the Chinese suitor that her father had offered her and asks to marry Kaspar instead. At the castle, where he now lives with his wife and their baby, Kaspar is unhappy because his favourite meals are not served there. When the grandmother arrives, everyone rejoices, as all the problems will be solved thanks to her.

Young audiences

Thelemann Dora

Germany

Printed

Love

Star

Future

Utopia

Homesickness

Milky Way

Plane

Noise

Grethe Jürgens, illustration for La Princesse des Étoiles et la grand-mère de Kaspar

German

Kasperl

Peasant (man)

Chinese

Grandmother

Baby

Play in verse

Domestic scene

Der Kaspar und die Sternenprinzessin

Kaspar and the Star Princess

Felix Techno is the inventor of a time machine which he demonstrates to the audience. He gives Technikus, a robot, to his nephew Peter, but makes it malfunction to punish him for his poor performance at school and to see if Peter and his friend Kalle can control it. The deranged robot wreaks havoc on the city. Felix, who observes the events from the future, returns to take part in them under different disguises. When the robot continues its journey into space, Felix dons a spacesuit and brings it back to Earth. The inventor decides to give the robot to Kalle, who has managed to control it, because "technology belongs to the one who controls it".

Focke Gerd

Time travel

Physics

Dysfunction

Spoutnik

Learning

Diving suit

Television

Robot

Dinosaur

Music

Time

Disobedience

Radio

School

Technical

Eine utopische Märchenkomödie für einen Schauspieler und einige Puppen

Inventor

Physician

Vendeur de journaux

Schoolteacher

Police officer

Fireman

Astronaut

Und die halbe Weltgeschichte, von übermorgen bis zur Zeit der Dinosaurier (oder umgekehrt)

Scene in the dark

Address to the public

Surprise effect

Speeding up of time

Personified object

Disguised character (false identity)

Unexpected turn of events

Running gag

Argument

Instrumental tune

Spying scene

Commentary

Chase

Transformism

Peter und der Roboter

Peter et le robot

A young boy named Pepperl is sick and can't go out. With the collaboration of Kasperl, who replaces him in bed and takes the medicines meant for him, Pepperl escapes from his house to go see the Christmas manger. Arriving on a flying saucer and disguised as an astronaut, the Man on the Moon convinces Kasperl and Pepperl to escape the boring festive season to celebrate Christmas on the Moon. Upon their arrival, they learn that the Man on the Moon was deceiving them. Kasperl loses his memory of his life on Earth. Thanks to the intervention of the Girl on the Moon and of Saint Nicolas who brings him a musical Christmas ornament, Kasperl recovers his memory. Saint Nicolas, Kasperl, and Pepperl return to Earth, where they are awaited by Father Christmas to celebrate the holiday.

String marionette

Munich

Audio-visual recording

Forced marriage

Identity

Nostalgia

Sadness

Visit

Regrets

Countdown

Oversight

Crater

Threat

Journey

Christmas

Pepperl

Inhabitants on the moon

Grand-father

Saint Nicholas

Doctor

Dialect

Object coming to life

Flying character

Flying machine

Apparition

Entrance from below stage

Die klingende Weihnachtskugel

La boule de Noël musicale

The Moon Man finds himself on Earth after having secretly travelled in the astronauts' rocket returning from a mission to his planet. He meets Kasperl's grandmother, whom he asks to take control of the rocket to take him back to the moon. When Kasperl and Seppl notice that he is missing, they fly to his rescue in another rocket. The Moon Man wants the grandmother to stay with him all the time to cook for him, which she refuses. When they arrive on the Moon, Kasperl and Seppl trick the Moon Man into thinking they are Moon Calves and then blind him with the light of a torch. Kasperl, Seppl and the grandmother all flee with the rockets, leaving the Moon Man relieved to be alone.

Schultheis Ole

Rocket

Loneliness

Rescue

Kidnapping

Animals, Mythical

Ein Kasperlstück

Seppl

Dialogue with the audience

Monologue

Trap

Imitation

Kasperl und der Mann vom Mond

Kasperl et l'Homme de la Lune

During the prologue, a traffic policeman expresses his boredom to the children in the audience. Kasper arrives and, at the request of the policeman, decides to tell a story, the one depicted in the play. The robot dwarf CR 93, known as Blinky, came from the Milky Way and wanted to take part in a rally on the planet Mars, but a computer error caused him to land in Kasper's town. His on-board computer has to be repaired quickly as his battery is almost empty. Carelessly crossing the street, Blinky is saved by Gretl and the Policeman. While Kasper, Gretl and the Policeman teach Blinky how to cross the street safely, the brigand Atze tries to steal the battery to sell it at the flea market, but Kasper and his friends get Atze arrested, fix the computer and even allow the robot nicknamed "Blinki" to exchange a few last words with an emergency call station the Martian has fallen in love with, before the latter leaves.

Guignol dans la Lune

Pièce féerique en 8 tableaux

L'ascensione di Faggiolino nel regno del Sole e nel mondo della Luna

Der Kaspar und die Sternenprinzessin

Peter und der Roboter

Eine utopische Märchenkomödie für einen Schauspieler und einige Puppen

Die klingende Weihnachtskugel

Kasperl und der Mann vom Mond

Ein Kasperlstück

Besuch aus dem Weltraum

Ein Kasperlespiel nicht nur zur Verkehrserziehung

Green Planet

La Luna e Pulcinella

Pulcinella di ritorno dalla Luna