Kasperl is buried in debt and runs away from the city. He believes that there is no other solution but to kill himself. But when the Devil arrives and drives him to hang himself, Kasperl realises that his time has not come yet. At this exact moment, gunshots are heard. The hunter, Hasenmajer, thinking that he was shooting a billy goat, almost killed Kasperl. In order to be forgiven, he invites his “victim” to the inn to get a drink. Spitzer, the school teacher, arrives at the inn with terrible news: a Turko has escaped from the convoy of prisoners. The innkeeper Krüglhuber refuses to believe it, but the waitress, Kathi, confirms that the Turko has been seen devouring a little child. Krüglhuber is terrified and demands that all doors be closed. The huntsman comes in and announces that he has captured the Turko and wants his reward, 400 gulden. The innkeeper accepts, but wants to see the prisoner first. Hasenmajer shows him Kasperl disguised as a Turko, locked in a cage. Krüglhuber is happy: he can announce that there is a new attraction in his inn. But Kasperl gets out of the cage and locks the innkeeper inside. The latter realises that the “Turko” is none other than his debtor. Kasperl offers him a deal: either the innkeeper agrees to forget about his debts in exchange for his freedom, or he will have to replace the “Turko”. Krüglhuber has no other choice but to accept Kasperl’s offer.

Not specified

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Debt

Devil

Hunting

Cage

Savage

Algerian infantry

Racism

Comical

Grotesque

Franz von Pocci, Neues Kasperl-Theater, 1873.

German

oder Ein Kasperlstreich aus dem Jahre 1870

Kasperl

Hunter

Innkeeper

Waitress

Schoolteacher

Apparition of the Devil

Disguised character (false identity)

Plot twist

Spectacular turn of events

Der gefangene Turko

The Turko prisoner

Gnafron is crippled with debts and flees to Madagascar with Guignol, but they board on a military ship and are forced to become soldiers. When they land in Madagascar, Gnafron is kidnapped by the Hovas, who believe him to be a general. They take him to their queen. Their own general having been captured by the French, they want Gnafron to replace him.
Guignol goes to Gnafron’s rescue. He enters the capital and tells the Queen that the French army is approaching. She agrees to surrender because she has fallen in love with Guignol. To avoid the watchful eye of the Prime Minister – who happens to be her husband – she meets Guignol in the main square of the town. There, the soldiers are training under the lead of the new general, who will be in a position to help them because he is French. Guignol therefore finds Gnafron. He lets him on his plan to seduce the queen and conquer the island. Gnafron agrees to help him. When he sees the Prime Minister approaching, he warns Guignol and the Queen. The Prime Minister tries to trigger a rebellion against the colonisers. He captures Guignol and plans to execute him. To save time and to free Guignol, the Queen postpones the execution to the following day. The French army walks into town. The Prime Minister asks the Hovas to fight for him. But as they are led by Gnafron, they attack the Prime Minister instead, and he flees. The Queen is freed. Guignol becomes Prime Minister; Gnafron marries Madame Dumont, who is expecting a child from a Hova man; and the French general announces that the mission was a success.

Glove-puppet

France

Lyon

Manuscript

Creditor

Madagascar

Boat

Army

Metis

Colonialism

Love

Treason

Female warrior

Dramatic

Tony Tardy, Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

French

Voyage de Guignol et Gnafron à Madagascar

Guignol

Gnafron

Prime Minister

Leader

Hova

King's messenger

Sergeant

Captain

General

Caporal

Queen

Tripe maker (woman)

Grocer

Pork butcher

Butcher

Landlord

Spy (woman)

Warrior (female)

Soldier

Misunderstanding

Song

Character wearing heavy makeup

Apotheosis

Cross-dressing

Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

The Adventures of Guignol and Gnafron in Tananarive

Sir William comes to Guignol to suggest that he and Gnafron go sell pills and polish in Africa. The pills would whiten black people’s skins, and the polish would keep intact the skin colour of everyone who would like to stay black. The two friends accept, unaware that the commercial journey is a cover for the true mission, which is to stop captain Marchand from reaching Fashoda. They are joined by doctor Béziclier, who studies races, and his daughter Luce. In Africa, Gnafron’s business is not going well—nobody wants to buy the pills. On the other hand, Guignol’s polish sells very well. Guignol and Luce are in love, but Béziclier has already promised his daughter to their guide Friponi, who actually works for the British. Yet, the Italian man does not love Luce, who is only a means to his ends. With the help of Bétéké and his companions, he kidnaps Luce and Naora, the slave who travels with her. Friponi then brings the bad news to the doctor and to Guignol and Gnafron, and then goes to the two women’s “rescue”. He makes Korouto, the king of Bangala, believe that the French plan to “slaughter everyone and wipe everything out” and that he himself – Friponi – can prevent that from happening. To do so, he will need Korouto’s army, which the king agrees to lend him. Because the Italian does not need Luce, the king suggests that she be proposed to Joudochik, the king of a neighbouring land. Naora is in fact Korouto’s daughter. She explains to her father that the French have come to trade – not to wage war – and that Friponi is the real villain. The king understands that he was mistaken and decides to help the French find Luce. Joudochik is willing to give Luce back to Guignol, if she does not curse him. Luce agrees and promises him prosperity instead. Friponi understands that he has to stop the French on his own, and so he sets the forest on fire. Guignol and Gnafron catch and then kill him. Guignol and his friends arrive at Fashoda and befriend the Mahdi – the leader of the Soudanese people. Major Marchand announces that the Congo-Nile road has been drawn. Sirdar Kitchener, an English officer, contests it: Khartoum and Fashoda are theirs. The Major says that his soldiers would rather die than retreat, so the English pulls back in the end. The French have won Fashoda.

Raciology

Slavery

Homeland

Woman doctor

Trade

Kidnapping

Africa

Tony Tardy, Guignol à Fachoda (title page)

Italian

Traitor

Doctor

Prussian

English man

Colonel

King

African

Counselor

Sudanese

Commanding officer

Jean-Baptiste Marchand

Lieutenant

Officer

Horatio Herbert Kitchener

Rifleman

Senegalese

Slave

Peuples noirs de l'Oubanghui et du Soudan

Versified passages

Off-stage voice

Comical foreign accent

Final song

Guignol à Fachoda

Guignol at Fashoda

Invited to the international convention of handymen in Chicago, Dr. Haase builds a rocket to go there. Two gangsters witness the landing and try to steal the rocket, but Haase manages to flee and goes to see Turnip, the organiser of the convention; the convention is actually an excuse invented to attract the German scientist. Turnip looks for ways to corrupt Haase, his daughter Elvyra tries to seduce him, and the gangster Bill tries to kill him. With the help of the black servant Ann, Haase manages to flee with the rocket and, at the same time, saves Ann’s son Tom from a lynching.

Der gefangene Turko

oder Ein Kasperlstreich aus dem Jahre 1870

Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

Guignol à Fachoda

Die Amerikareise

Satirisches Puppenspiel für große Kinder