The Docteur (Doctor) and Marinette are castaways on an island, where they pretend to be mute and have been asked to guard Grazinde – a virgin girl who must be sacrificed to a monster called Endriague. Elfridérigelpot – the son of the sacrificer Caudaguliventer – lets them flee because he wants to keep Grazinde for himself. But he cannot save her in the end: the genius Popocambechatabalipa holds Grazinde prisoner in the Endriague’s stomach. The Genius turns the indigenous population to stone as a punishment for doing such sacrifices. A new castaway, Arlequin, tries to revive them, without success. The Génie (Genie) tasks him with fetching Espadavantellados the knight, who will free Grazinde and break the spell. The Endriague appears and swallows Arlequin, but he manages to escape. At Arlequin’s request, the spell is removed from Scaramouche, who was turned to stone, and Scaramouche roams the town. With the help of Arlequin, Espadavantellados the knight fights the Endriague and frees Grazinde. The islanders are revived, but in order to fully break the spell, the knight must touch the part where their hand was at the time they were petrified.

Costume puppet

Not specified

Piron Alexis

France

Paris

Printed

Monster

Sacrifice

Human turned into a statue

Enchantment

Theaters of the Parisian fairs

Knighthood

Comical

Fantasy

French

Arlecchino

Scaramouche

Il Dottore (Commedia dell'arte)

Marinette

Prosecutor

Daughter

Terpsichore

Metamorphosis

Speechless character

Archaic speech

L'Endriague

The Endriague

The shepherd Floritan (Floridan) is in love with the shepherdess Dorinda, but she tells him that she will only answer to his love if he brings her water from a magical cave. Instead of doing it himself, Floritan sends his servant Hans (Kasper) to fetch that water. As a reward, he assures Hans that he will give him a trousseau so that he can marry Dorinda’s servant, Gretel. The latter has to prepare a jar to fetch water, but she refuses to give it to Hans because she thinks he is unfaithful. In fact, Hans is planning on marrying Dorinda if his adventure is a success. Hans and Floritan manage to get to the cave, each independently, but Floritan is scared and runs away. Karikux, the magician, denies entry to the cave to Hans, a devil breaks his pot, then he is eventually chased away by shrews. Hans tells his story, exaggerating it, to Floritan. Floritan gives up on going back to the cave to get water. Instead, Dorinda challenges him to kill a monster that is eating her sheep and goats. Hans, to whom Floritan has again promised money for his wedding, kills the monster for his master. He demands that Dorinda marry him, but she does not care about who has killed the monster, because she is, in fact, in love with Floritan, and with him only. Therefore, Dorinda gets married to Floritan, and Hans to Gretel.

String marionette

All audiences

Germany

Leipzig

Typewriting

Magic

Test

Cave

Jealousy

Love

Pastoral

Theaterzettel von Louis Regel aus Donndorf, Roßla am Harz um 1880

German

Sheperherdess

Shepherd

Kasperl

Farmhand

Maid

Magician

Devil

Ghost

Love story

Apparition

Apparition of the Devil

Song

Final wedding

Der Gang zur Zauberhöhle

The path to the magical cave

The play is set during the annual Saint-Cloud fair, in the big alley where the fairground theatres are gathered. Cassandre, Paillasse and Jeannot, whom Arlequin meet, rejoice at the news of the return of Mère Gigogne – a well-known figure at the fair, who has what it takes to bring back the joyfulness needed for its success. Paillasse and Jeannot parade to attract people to the stall to see a show about a giant cockchafer and trained stink bugs. Arlequin comes up to a young girl, Jeunesse (Youth), and promises to buy her a reed flute and gingerbread. The audience leave the stall, furious about having been misled, since the show never began. Mère Gigogne, followed by a large procession, appears and dances, giving birth to many children. She blesses the marriage between Arlequin and Jeunesse. The show ends with a sung vaudeville.

Rod and string marionette

Fairground

Birth

Show

Animal savant

Pierre-Louis Belfort-Devaux, La Foire de Saint-Cloud, 1853.

Cassandra

People

Aria

Final song

Oration

Childbirth on stage

Dance

La Foire de Saint-Cloud

The Saint-Cloud Fair

After a prologue in which a marionette summarizes the plot, the scene opens in Juno’s bedroom at 3 a.m. Jove and Mercury, drunk and dressed as burglars, break the window to get in. Jove drives Mercury away and tries to sleep but he wakes up Juno, who picks a quarrel with him. She is furious and she decides to go to Hell and fetch two snakes which will kill Hercules and his mother in retaliation for Jove’s unfaithfulness. At the gates of Hell, Juno orders snakes and meets Blind Boy and Columbus the Parrot, who are carrying a bag. They are introduced to Pluto and his favorite snake, Slimy-Go-Gurgle-and-Twirl. They are sentenced to boil in the cauldron of Hell, but Columbus states that he has a present for Pluto in his bag. Pluto asks to see it. The present is an egg containing six other eggs, which are all of different colours and are placed one inside the other. Out of the smallest one hatches the “Worm of Worms,” Cockatrice, who kills all the snakes in Hell and terrifies everybody. Pluto gives his ring to Blind Boy and asks him to take Cockatrice away, but Blind Boy informs him that he is his mother and offers to explain how it happened. They all sit in front of a small theatre, where the story of Cockatrice’s birth is narrated. In the cockney neighborhood of London, Jove, dressed up as a cock, steps into Blind Woman and Blind Boy’s shop in order to buy pigeon milk. He hands over an egg to Blind Boy, since he is blind and therefore cannot see Cockatrice, who is about to hatch, for a single glance at Cockatrice would prove fatal - it would even kill him to see himself in a mirror. Jove asks Blind Boy to be Cockatrice’s mother and to never reveal to him who his father is. After hatching, Cockatrice befriends Blind Boy, and they decide to travel the different worlds together. After the performance ends, Blind Boy, Cockatrice, and Parrot leave Hell in order to rescue Hercules from the snakes sent by that Juno sent.

Craig Edward Gordon

Italy

Marina di Pisa

Printed excerpts

Unfaithfulness

Latin Mythology

Hell

Evil

Descent into hell

Satirical

Parodistic

English

Jupiter - Parrot - Pluto - Cockatrice & Blind-Boy

1st version

Puppet

Juno

Jupiter (Jove)

Mercury

Worker

Blind Boy

Blind

Parrot

Pretty Polly

Columbus

Servant

Pluto

Slimy-Go-Gurgle-And-Twirl

Snake

Cockatrice

Basilic

Worm

Cock, cockerel

Theatre within the theatre

Egg eclosion

Verbal imitation

Argument

Blind character

Disguised character (false identity)

Analepsis (Flash-back)

Anachronism

Avista

Hell (1916)

Enfer

The Real Lady enters a shop to buy a foil that will accompany her in her social engagements. The Shopman first recommends her a “Real Horror”, whom she turns down. Then, he introduces the Real Artist, the Van Gogh model (only his legs and shoes are visible), but he growls whenever he hears about money and the Shopman advises her against buying it in the end. He suggests a Marionette instead – The Real Gentleman. The Real Lady inspects it closely, buys it and gets out of the shop with it, carrying it around on a leash. From behind a window, art historian John Ruskin and naturalist Charles Darwin followed and briefly commented on the scene. The interlude concludes with other remarks, from Buddha and Ahha, who appeared in a version of The First Prologue and who, accompanied by Parrot, were supposed to travel throughout centuries in the Drama for Fools initial project.

Shadow theatre

Silhouette

Giant marionette

Trade

Shopping

Stooge

Society life

Goods

Money

People and history

Witness

Absurd

Salesman

Lady

Gentleman

Artist

Vincent Van Gogh

John Ruskin

Charles Darwin

Buddha

Ahha

Situation comedy

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Spying scene

Commentary

The play begins in Hell: a small bedroom in an apartment in Cheapside, London. Pluto, the God of Hell, is an old man in a dressing gown and slippers who sleeps in his armchair while angel-faced devils sing him a lullaby. He is awakened by the announcement of the arrival of two visitors. Before they enter, Pluto orders the place to be changed in accordance with the expected aspects of Hell: cauldrons, damned souls, flames, and devils. The two visitors, Blind-boy and Pretty Polly the parrot, are introduced to Pluto and his favorite snake, Slimy-Go-Gurgle-and-Twirl. They are sentenced to boil in the cauldron of Hell, but Pretty Polly states that it has a gift for Pluto in its bag. Pluto asks to see it. The gift is an egg containing six others, all of different colors and set one into the other. The “Worm of worms”, Cockatrice, hatches from the smallest, killing all the snakes of Hell and frightening everyone. Pluto gifts his ring to Blind-Boy so that he can take Cockatrice away, but Blind-Boy informs him that he is his mother and offers to share how it came to be. They all sit in front of a small theater where the story of Cockatrice’s birth is narrated. In the cockney neighborhood of London, Jove, dressed up as a rooster, enters Blind-Woman and Blind-Boy’s shop in order to buy pigeon milk. He hands over an egg to Blind-Boy, who is blind and cannot see that Cockatrice is ready to hatch. As the sight of Cockatrice is dangerous—it would even be fatal for him to see himself in a mirror—Jove asks Blind-Boy to be Cockatrice’s mother and to never reveal to him who his father is. After hatching, Cockatrice befriends Blind-Boy, and they decide to travel the different worlds together. After the performance ends, Blind-Boy, Cockatrice, and Pretty Polly leave Hell in order to save Hercules from the snakes sent by Juno.

Edward Gordon Craig, front cover of the manuscript of the 3rd version of Hell, 1918.

The Drama for Fools, Scenes 2-3-4
Cheapside

3rd version

Richard Burbage

Alfred Harmsworth

Propsman

Hell (1918)

Don Juan overhears a conversation between Amarillis and Don Philippo, who agree to a romantic rendezvous. He sets out to kidnap Amarillis, when her father, Don Pietro, appears. Don Juan stabs him, and then robs his relative Don Alvaro Pantolfius, before fleeing Seville with his servant Schängche. The latter, tormented by a devil, is carried into the air on a giant sausage. After a shipwreck in which Schängche is swallowed and then spat out by a whale, the two fugitives wander through the woods. They meet a hermit, who, under threat, lends Don Juan a suit to disguise himself. Lost in the forest, Amarillis meets Schängche's fiancée, the innkeeper Greta de la Rosa. Don Juan finds the two women and tries to seduce them, but Don Philippo finds him in the meantime. Don Juan murders him. Schängche still has to fight a monster they meet in the forest. They arrive by chance at Greta's inn, where Don Juan seduces the bride of a wedding that has just taken place. At the cemetery, he invites the statue of Don Pietro to supper, who accepts his invitation. But Don Juan refuses to repent and is damned. Schängche, on the other hand, marries Greta.