King Mirambole is tyrannical, vain and hypochondriac, and he wants to marry. Three rival courtiers (the Doctor, the Astrologer and the Goldsmith) flatter the King, smear one another and conspire to persuade him to choose a woman from their respective families as his wife. The Doctor convinces the King that only a comet put on his forehead will cure him of all his pains. To cause the Astrologer’s downfall, he also advises the King to leave this task to him. The Astrologer suggests that the King ask the Goldsmith to make one, while the Goldsmith persuades the King to entrust the Doctor and the Astrologer with the task. In the end, the valet Pierrot commits to bringing the king a comet. Pierrot goes to his brother, an innkeeper, brings back a bottle of “comet wine” and convinces his niece Balibutte to follow him. When he comes back to the palace, he introduces his niece as a comet embodied in a woman, and he cures the king with the wine. Balibutte relates a dream to the king, which both exposes the courtiers’ betrayals and tells him how to punish them. The king executes the courtiers, marries Balibutte and names Pierrot grand vizier.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Printed

Brokers

Ambition

Flattery

Conspiracy

Tyrant

Wedding

Vanity

Cabaret

Wine

Self-deception

Cruelty

Comet

Cure

Illness

Dream

Rivalry

Melancholy

Satirical

Fantasy

Comical

Front page of La Comète du Roi Mirambole, 1862.

French

Astrologer

Physician

Executioner

Pierrot

Cabaret owner

Herald

Blow-with-a-stick

Aside

Off-stage noise

Public announcement

Execution scene

Account of a dream

Monologue

La Comète du Roi Mirambole

The Comet of King Mirambole

The comet Halifax 712 is approaching Earth. In the absence of the astronomer, Kasperl, his assistant, makes a journalist believe that a collision is imminent. Sensationalist press spreads panic. Kasperl denounces the selfishness of the Minister, who only thinks about himself. He also mocks people for stupidly believing in what the newspapers say, hires a telescope from a passer-by in order to get a closer look at the comet and suggests ridiculous measures (spraying water towards the comet, sending a spaceship). As the comet approaches, Kasperl disguises as a Capuchin monk and hears the confessions of the Minister as well as those of the journalist and of a salted meat master. When they want to bring their wealth in order to redeem themselves from their wrongdoings, they realize that the comet has drawn away, but Kasperl explains to them that their belongings and their superstition will be the subject of many other plays.

La Comète du Roi Mirambole

Der Komet

Ein Handpuppenspiel in 3 Akten