The widow Werner lives with her young son Ludwig in misery: a sad Christmas is coming. To surprise her son, Mrs Werner goes out to buy a small pine tree and some apples. In her absence, Ludwig writes a letter to baby Jesus, asking for an illustrated Bible: he throws the letter out of the window addressing it to the angels. On Christmas morning, a package is delivered containing the Bible he asked for. The donor is Friedrich Walter, an old friend of the deceased Karl Werner: he has just returned from a long trip to the Orient and is inquiring at the police station about the widow's address, when some officers tell him of the amusing discovery of Ludwig's letter. Friedrich Walter takes the widow and child under his protection.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Poverty

Reading

Education

Hanswurst

Kasperl

Bible

Childhood

Crib

Piety

Sentimentalism

Social realism

Christmas

Realist

Pathetic

German

Metatheatre

Monologue

Letter

Transforming scenery

Chorus

Deus ex machina

Der Weihnachts-Brief

Christmas Letter

Having graduated from the University of Heidelberg, Anselme has become an assistant at old Hans’s toyshop, in Nuremberg, in order to grow closer to his employer’s daughter, Wilhelmine, whom he secretly loves. The son of the adviser Paykul also courts her. The Jew Mardochée sells them dolls which look like little women sleeping, and he says that they come from the Moon. In the evening, when Anselme is alone, Queen Lunaria and her companions wake up and tell him that they have come from the Moon. Anselme protects them from the monster Angramanyou, genie of underground fire, by delivering toys to him instead. Spiders threaten the women of the Moon, then different objects (household utensils, balloons) become animated, introduce themselves one after the other and dance. Anselme confesses his love to Lunaria, who grows and reveals herself to be Wilhelmine, the two women having been mistaken for one another in a dream. With Hans’s permission, Anselme and Wilhelmine decide to get married.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

France

Nohant

Moon

Dream

Impossible love

Doll

Genie

Sleep

Shyness

Comical

Fantasy

Fantastic

Frontispiece for the volume containing the play Jouets et Mystères

French

Merchant (man)

Baroness

Young girl

Maid

Queen

Spider

Balai

Plumeau

Brosse

Balloon

Love rivalry

Fight

Engulfment

Ballet

Dance

One character replaced by another

Plot twist

Apparition

Apparition of a genie

Prosopopoeia

Jouets et mystères

Toys and Mysteries

Felix Techno is the inventor of a time machine which he demonstrates to the audience. He gives Technikus, a robot, to his nephew Peter, but makes it malfunction to punish him for his poor performance at school and to see if Peter and his friend Kalle can control it. The deranged robot wreaks havoc on the city. Felix, who observes the events from the future, returns to take part in them under different disguises. When the robot continues its journey into space, Felix dons a spacesuit and brings it back to Earth. The inventor decides to give the robot to Kalle, who has managed to control it, because "technology belongs to the one who controls it".

Focke Gerd

Time travel

Physics

Dysfunction

Cosmic journey

Spoutnik

Learning

Diving suit

Television

Robot

Dinosaur

Music

Time

Disobedience

Radio

School

Technical

Parodistic

Eine utopische Märchenkomödie für einen Schauspieler und einige Puppen

Inventor

Physician

Vendeur de journaux

Schoolteacher

Police officer

Fireman

Astronaut

Und die halbe Weltgeschichte, von übermorgen bis zur Zeit der Dinosaurier (oder umgekehrt)