Pulcinella and Death have a daughter, Baby, who suffers from the difficulties of her parents' separation: Pulcinella is now engaged to Teresina and wants Death to leave him alone. Death would like Baby to become a great actress, so she has enrolled her in an acting class: the end-of-year recital is the next day. During the night, Pulcinella steals the poem Baby was supposed to recite and she loses her voice. In an attempt to get it back, Baby enters Pulcinella's belly to retrieve the poem. When Baby emerges from Pulcinella's belly, Teresina, who had prayed to San Gennaro to give her a child with Pulcinella, thinks that Baby is their longed-for child. So, when Death is about to take Baby back, Teresina makes a jealous scene and gets angry at Pulcinella. Death begs Pulcinella to return, but to no avail. Finally, Baby grows up and manages to do the job she wanted: driver of the Neapolitan underground called "Circumvesuviana".

Glove-puppet

Rod puppet

Not specified

Brunello Gigio

Molnár Gyula (aka Giulio Molnár)

Italy

Mogliano Veneto

Printed

Death

Child

Poetry

Naples

Relic

Religion

Cult of the saints

Tragic

Comical

Lyrical

Italian

Voice

Balanzone

Pulcinella

Teresina

Inserting poetry

Childbirth on stage

Prayer

Address to the public

Alternating narrative / dialogue

Rehearsal (play within a play)

Domestic scene

Nightmare

Miracle

Ascension

Brawl

Blow-with-a-stick

Epilogue

Circumvesuviana

In a dark forest, Pulcinella encounters Dante. To get out of the forest, he will have to cross Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Dante accompanies him in Hell, where Pulcinella meets Caronte (Charon) and fights Cerbero (Cerberus) and several devils. Lucifero (Lucifer) himself comes to drive Pulcinella out of Hell. He can now access Purgatory, where he is accompanied by Diego Maradona. There, he meets several souls that ask him to pray for them: the souls of a soldier, a priest, a prostitute and a guappo (local thug) killed by Pulcinella. He finally meets Death who plays tricks on him using skulls. After defeating Death, Pulcinella can access Paradise, where he is accompanied by Beatrice. In Paradise, Pulcinella wants to eat but San Gennaro explains that holy souls do not eat. As an exception, San Vincenzo Ferrer gives him a meal and Sant’Antonio Abate brings him a cup of coffee. At the end of the play, Pulcinella dances with Beatrice. With the journey over, Pulcinella now looks for his true Paradise: his lover Teresina.

Marotte

All audiences

Leone Bruno

Palermo

Electronic text

Hell

Purgatory

Heaven

Hunger

Original sin

Love

Pulcinella and Dante in the dark forest

Pulcinella nell'Inferno, Purgatorio e Paradiso delle guarattelle

Dante Alighieri

Charon

Cerberus

Devil

Lucifer

Diego Armando Maradona

Soldier

Priest

Prostitute

Thug

Soul in Purgatory

Beatrice

Saint Januarius

God (monotheism)

Saint Vincent Ferrer

Saint Anthony the Great

Pulcinellino

Baby

Fighting a monster

Versified passages

Apparition of the Devil

Dead talking character

Dance

Nel mezzo del teatrin di nostra vita

In the middle of the puppet booth of our life