A poet comes out of his bath to walk on a bridge and enjoy the sunset. A gardener walks past him and mentions the glorious life he gave up in order to cultivate flowers. A young man relates his day spent hunting alone. Then comes a stranger, and after him a girl who is listening to a traveling singer. Night has now fallen. A group of three people arrives on the bridge: a madman, his servant, and a doctor. The madman is a young nobleman who had a life of abundance before devoting himself to solitude and to roaming. He meditates on the illusion of all things while leaning on the bannister. He tries to throw himself in the water, but his comrades prevent him from doing so.

Not specified

Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August

Austria

Bad Fusch

Printed

Bath

Evening

Landscape

Flowers

Loneliness

Glory

Misery

Hunting

Dream

River

Childhood

Night

Destiny

Melancholy

Madness

Illusion

Suicide

Lyrical

German

Oder die Glücklichen

Gardener

Poet

Street singer

Fool

Domestic servant

Physician

Monologue

Teichoscopy

Light effects

Song

Off-stage voice

Das kleine Welttheater

The small theatre of the world

It’s Saint John’s Day. The God Pan announces the arrival of dawn and invokes the spirit of flowers. Every character that appears seems to be filled with an overwhelming desire to love: a seminarian and the daughter of a priest secretly kiss, a bird sings for his lover, two young farmers embrace on a cart, two children talk about stars and babies, a nun praises her creator, two cats fight passionately, a young girl longing for love falls asleep… When she wakes up, an older girl suggests that they go see a witch that can make them see the man they will love. Despite their fear and the darkness, they go to the witch whose spell makes their future husbands appear. One looks oddly like the fisherman from the beginning of the play, and the other looks like the prince who previously appeared as a fish. Still quivering and bewitched, the two girls leave and Pan ends the play by playing the flute.

Shadow theatre

Bernus Alexander von

Germany

Munich

Feast of Saint John

Romanticism

Love

Paganism

Nature

Sorcery

Magic

Lust

Fantasy

Greta von Hoerner, spirit of a flower, Pan, 1907

Romantisches Schattenspiel

Nymph

Spirit

Flower

Witch

Seminarian

Bird

Sheep

Shepherd

Fisherman

Fish

Prince

Hunter

Carter

Prostitute

Child

Young girl

Musician

Wisp

Mole

Metamorphosis

Apparition

Instrumental tune