The sultan Achmet and his brother Mustapha deliberate over what to do with their Christian prisoners. Achmet wants to sacrifice some of them to the god Muhammad, while Mustapha advises him not to—because they were both rescued by Christians once. But the laws of the country require that Achmet sacrifice Christians. Casper, who diced the smallest number, will be sacrificed first. But he displays such stupidity that he is eventually spared. Then, Thorello dices the smallest number: he must therefore be sacrificed. The sultan recognises him as the prince who saved him in Pavia eight years before and so he sets him free. Jockerle, Casper’s son, comes to the palace to inquire about his father, on behalf of his mother. In fact, his mother, who remarried, only sent her son to rid herself of him; she hoped he would die during the journey. Jockerle explains that the princess Rosothea, Thorello’s wife, must also remarry. When Casper reunites with his master Thorello, whom he believed to be dead, he immediately tells him about his wife’s plan to remarry. The Sultan then offers Thorello one the women from his harem. Thorello refuses, and the sultan allows him to go back to Pavia, using magic; it will only take him twenty-four hours to reach it. Casper and Jockerle treat the magician so badly that they are forced to travel on the back of a dragon. In Pavia, the princess Rosothea laments her fate: she has been promised to the count Zittonio, but she would rather enter a convent than marry him. She learns that Thorello came back after being imprisoned for seven years; they reunite. Casper also reunites with Gretel; not recognising him, she speaks badly of him. When Casper slaps her, she goes fetch her new husband, Domerle. Jockerle sets Domerle’s clothes on fire. Then he and Casper pummel him.

String marionette

Not specified

Czechia

Prague

Manuscript

Magic

Dragon

Muslim

Christianity

Italy

Italy (north)

Turkey

Bigamy

Harem

Jail

Remarriage

Comical

Tragic

Farcical

Burlesque

Theaterzettel von Richard Dietze, Brand-Erbisdorf (Sachsen) um 1900

German

Torello von Pavia

Sultan

Turk

Vizir

Prince

Kasperl

Servant

Magician

Duchess

Count

Madame Kasperl

Haymaker

Janissary

Brawl

Scene of recognition

Flying machine

Pyrotechnics

Slaps

Sultan Achmet

Kom, king of the city of Polimicra, announces to his people that a giant is treading on their land. He promises his daughter to whoever defeats him: Occe, who is in love with Nec, therefore comes forward and offers himself as a champion. Although she pretends not to have feelings, Nec is secretly in love with the giant Ercole (Hercules). Vam, the Pygmies’ general, is in love with Has, Kom’s second daughter. But Has is in love with Occe. The envoy Brin announces the arrival of the giant; he describes him in horrifying terms: the giant Ercole demands the king’s two daughters, or he will destroy the city. In the gardens of the palace, Nec and Has see the sky darken when the giant arrives. Has is desperate, but Nec rejoices: either her kingdom defeats him, or she will become Ercole’s wife. In the panic, a propitiatory sacrifice is made to Mammon, while the battle is being prepared. Brin is trying to accept that he will be devoured; the general Vam suggests that they put the giant to sleep to defeat him. Has declares his love to Occe, to try and stop him from the certain death awaiting him; but Occe’s decision does not change in the slightest. During the sacrifice, Has prays for the people, while Nec refuses to pray for the defeat of the one she loves: her father sends her to the dungeon. Brin arrives, distressed: Ercole’s nose is showing - it was taken for a mobile rock – and Ercole is asking for the king’s daughters. The giant makes fun of Occe, who is trying to fight him. Vam fills the place with smoke. Ercole sneezes: everyone falls to the ground and believes that they are being punished by the gods. They try to flee, but are stopped by Ercole’s hand. Only Nec stands before Ercole to declare her love. Out of pity and admiration for her bravery, Ercole commands Nec and Occe to marry, as well as Vam and Has, and he decides to spare everyone.

Martello Pier Jacopo

Rome

Printed

Giant

Pygmies

Threat

Sneezing

Wedding

Humorous

Parodistic

Pier Jacopo Martello, Lo starnuto d'Ercole. Teatro italiano, Parte ultima. Bologna: Lelie Dalla Volpe, 1723.

Italian

Hercules

King

Princess

General

Messenger

Playing with scale

Music

Chorus

Public announcement

Monologue

Invisible character

Confinement

Fight between an actor and a puppet

Ridiculous fight

Earthquake

Character thrown in the air

Final wedding

Lo starnuto d'Ercole

Hercules's sneeze

A Soldat (soldier) wakes Polichinelle up: everyone is waiting for him to launch an attack on Philippsbourg. Cannons fires frighten Polichinelle, but a Vivandière (women sutlers or canteen keepers) brings him some eau de vie to comfort him. Pierrot, who was mistaken for a spy, is interrogated by a Sergent (Sergeant): he threatens to have him hanged. As he is being led into a trench, the town surrenders. The play ends with a divertissement and a vaudeville.

Rod and string marionette

Carolet Denis

France

Paris

Fear

Military life

Satirical

Manuscript of La Prise de Philisbourg, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

French

Polichinelle

Soldier

Vivandière

Canteen worker

Pierrot

Sergeant

Trumpet (military man/woman)

Aria

Dancing entertainment

Final song

Misunderstanding

Hanging scene

La Prise de Philisbourg

The Capture of Philisbourg

Polichinelle has enlisted as a soldier for six years. After arriving at the camp of the French army, outside Kehl, he is frightened and wants to go back to Paris. Sentenced to be hanged for deserting, he is pardoned because the garrison of the fortress has just surrendered.

Army

Deserter

Death penalty

Antimilitarism

Manuscrit of La Prise du fort de Kehl (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ms. fr. 9294)

Drum

Judge

La Prise du fort de Kehl

The Capture of the fortress of Kehl

At the market, Esopo (Aesop) is sold to a new master: the philosopher Xanto. Xanto’s daughter, Filena, is in love with one of her father’s followers, Periandro: Esopo is bought as a matchmaker. Xanto confides in him: he is in love with his wife’s lady-in-waiting, Geringonça. The latter becomes infatuated with Esopo, who rejects her. During a symposium, Xanto bets that he can empty the sea: Esopo helps him untangle himself from this bet, in exchange for freedom. Esopo, drunk, tells Geringonça that his master loves her; his wife Eurípedes hears this too: upset, she leaves the house. Disguised as another woman, Filena is courted by Periandro: she accuses him of being unfaithful and leaves him. Esopo has been sent to prison. He is freed by Xanto, who thus settles his promise; he now promises to free Esopo on condition that he bring Eurípedes back. While Temístocles (Themistocles) and Cresso are waging war against Athens, one of Jupiter’s eagles lands on Esopo, who becomes commander of the armies. Esopo manages to make Eurípedes so jealous that she decides to go back to her husband. As Cresso’s army is standing outside Athens, Esopo begins to tell a fable about love, punctuated with macaronic Latin. The two couples (Xanto and Eurípedes, Periandro and Filena) reconcile. Esopo, who is in love with Filena, recites a sonnet to her, and makes her write an ambiguous letter intended for him. Called to duty, Esopo triumphs over Temístocles, through betrayal and plays on words. During a night scene, Eurípedes goes to the court where Xanto is meeting Geringonça. Xanto meets his daughter there, waiting for her lover. Eurípedes pretends to be Geringonça, to expose her husband’s infidelity. Esopo is fooled, and Geringonça shouts that she has been robbed. After the defeat of the town has been announced, Esopo dresses as a woman and draws Temístocles’ attention: he has fallen in love with the beautiful young woman. Esopo is imprisoned and Cresso tasks him with building a tower in the air. After another turnaround, the King pardons him and he goes back to Athens, where his fellow citizens make peace with him as he narrates a fable to them.

Giant marionette

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Slave

Philosophy

Love

Unfaithfulness

Enfranchisement

Philosophical tale

Esopaida, title page and summary of the play (1759)

Portuguese

ou Vida de Esopo

Croesus

Xeno

Philosopher

Slave master

Lover (man)

Disciple

Themistocles

Daughter

Wife

Maid

Aesop

Choir

Philosophical dialogue

Love story

Thwarted love

Dinner scene

Statue coming to life

Change of social status

Allusion to theatrical events of the time

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Macaronic Latin

Fight

Oracle

Battlefield scene

Cross-dressing

Esopaida

Aesop’s Life

While the Countess von Eichenfels is running to the aid of her husband, who is seriously wounded at the end of a victorious campaign, their only child Heinrich is taken from his cradle by a Gypsy woman, old Juta. Eight years later, Heinrich escapes from the cave where he was held captive by the gypsy band, while the Gypsies are out robbing on the highways. He finds refuge with Menrad, a hermit and a former comrade-in-arms of the Count's squire, Hannes. In pursuit of the robbers, he stops at the hermitage and, with Menrad's help, surprises the two Gypsies who were looking for Heinrich. In the meantime, Juta has been arrested and has confessed everything to the Count. Hannes and Menrad bring Heinrich back to his parents after eight years in captivity.

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Infant

Family

Gypsies

Cavern

Lost child

Thief

Dramatic

Countess

Hermit

Prologue

Song

Story

Running away

Transforming scenery

Heinrich von Eichenfels

The tailor Bock lodges a complaint with the mayor Salzmaier against Kasperl, his tenant, for night-time disturbances. Salzmaier wants to put him in prison, but Kasperl, warned by his clerk friend Spritzler, pretends to be Garibaldi, entering the Tyrol leading 50,000 men. He takes up residence in Salzmaier's house, flirts with his wife Margarethe and drinks so much beer... that everyone recognises him: the play ends with a general brawl.

Excessive drinking

Beer

Spousal abuse

Seduction

Ein politisches Trauerspiel, aus dem Italienischen übersetzt

Clerk

Tailor

Innkeeper

In der Ferne das Garibaldische Armeekorps

Inn scene

Political allegory

Parody of formal language

Word for another

Dialect

Macaronism

Disguise

Kasperl als Garibaldi

Kasperl as Garibaldi

The story takes place in Grenada at the beginning of the 16th century. Juan Ramero, a former soldier in the army of Isabella the Catholic, is now a bellringer in a church in town. On the twentieth anniversary of the Reconquista, the inhabitants of Grenada gift a bell made with gold and silver to the old mosque, which was turned into a Catholic church, so that Juan Ramero can ring it to celebrate this anniversary. But Saïd le Maure (the Moor Saïd), who fought Juan Ramero, comes back to avenge himself. He accuses him of having stripped him of his house and of having killed his son. Since then, he became a magician by making a deal with the devil Satanas, and he took advantage of the gullibility of Lola, the servant, to get into the house. In fact, Saïd’s son is not dead – on the day of the last battle between Christians and Muslims, Juan Ramero came across three men fighting over the baby’s crib. Juan Ramero saved him, baptised him under the name Andrès and raised him as his son. However, Saïd knows nothing about this and wants to kill Juan Ramero, his daughter Carmen and Andrès, whom he believes to be Ramero’s son. He makes a deal with Satanas, who grants him the power to transform humans. Saïd chases Juan Ramero and his children in the desert, where he turns Carmen into a myrtle and Andrès into a roebuck. Juan Ramero reveals the whole truth to Saïd. To redeem himself, the latter calls upon Azaël -Satanas’ enemy – who gives the children their original form back. They all make peace and go back to Grenada to start a new life.

Sultan Achmet

Lo starnuto d'Ercole

La Prise de Philisbourg

La Prise du fort de Kehl

Esopaida

ou Vida de Esopo

Heinrich von Eichenfels

Kasperl als Garibaldi

Ein politisches Trauerspiel, aus dem Italienischen übersetzt

La Cloche du diable

Guerrino Meschino

Guerrino detto il Meschino Agl'alberi del Sole Alla grotta della Fata Alcina Con Faggiolino suo scudiero

Les Prussiens en France