Pulcinella, an apothecary, is pleased with his situation. Her daughter’s servant, Cannetella, tells him that women have qualities that make good apothecaries. After quarrelling several times about this topic, Pulcinella plans on marrying her. However, Cannatella is in love with a young man, Lisardo, who came to offer his services and work in the shop. Lisardo was hired by Pulcinella and is happy to be progressing with his plans: in fact, under the name Lisardo, a young woman called Delmira is hiding. She came to take revenge on Filarco, who robbed her of her honour and then abandoned her. However, Filarco is now wooing Rosaura, Pulcinella’s daughter. In fact, Rosaura is sick: to cure her, Pulcinella suggests that she marry Damone; she flatly refuses. Filarco sees many similarities between Lisardo and his ex-mistress, whom he believed was dead, but he is still fooled: he asks the young man to help him win Rosaura; Delmira calls him a traitor. To cure Rosaura, Pulcinella hires Damone, who is also a doctor: when the latter woos her during the consultation, she faints. As for Lisardo, he rejects Cannetella’s advances. The servant suggests that Filarco pretends to be a doctor to grow closer to Rosaura: because of her exhortations, Pulcinella summons Damone and Filarco, who examine the young woman together: this leads to double meanings between the young characters, who declare their love to each other. Filarco’s prescription is in fact a love letter, and Lisardo condemns his betrayal (Pulcinella cannot read): however, Rosaura manages to interpret every single word in medical terms. After taking the treatment prescribed by Damone, Rosaura pretends to have gone insane and behaves like Eurydice waiting for her Orfeo (Orpheus). She is so believable that Pulcinella discharges Damone and relies on Filarco: Rosaura pretends to see Orfeo in him; he goes along with it and earns the right to marry her. In an attempt to stop the marriage, Damone discloses that Rosaura is not Pulcinella’s daughter. Therefore, Pulcinella does not have the right to decide who she will marry: Rosaura declares her love to Filarco nonetheless. Delmira reveals who she truly is, and Filarco decides to go back to his first wife. Rosaura then lets herself be talked into marrying Damone, and Cannetella agrees to marry Pulcinella.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

Italy

Rome

Printed

Medicine

Love

Revenge

Cure

Unfaithfulness

Forced marriage

Melodramatic

Burlesque

Farcical

Comical

Pulcinella speziale in villa, 1728 (title page)

Italian

Pulcinella

Apothecary

Young woman

Young man

Physician

Maid

Music

Dialect

Popular speech

Thwarted love

Argument

Love story

Love rivalry

Disguised character (false identity)

Cross-dressing

Character mistaken as a member of the other sex

Love duet

Sick character on stage

Fainting

Situation comedy

Comic equivocation

Scene of madness

Final wedding

Pulcinella speziale in villa

Pulcinella apothecary in the villa

Pierrot has just arrived in the Underworld after being hanged. Pluton (Pluto) tasks him with judging newcomers. Pythagore (Pythagoras), a Poète (Poet), a Financier, a Coquette, an Actrice d’Opéra (Opera Actress) and a Médecin (Doctor) go before him. Each is put in an unexpected group (the comedians for Pythagore, the false witnesses for the Poète, the coach drivers for the financier, etc.).

France

Paris

Printed summary

Hell

Judge

Judgment

Rivalry of theatres

Life of the theatres

Swindling

Satirical

Manuscrit of Pierrot arbitre (BnF, Ms Fr 9313).

French

Pierrot

Pluto

Pythagoras

Poet

Financier

Coquette

Actress

Play with drawers

Final song

Surprise effect

Aria

Pierrot arbitre

Pierrot arbitrator

Dom Gilvaz and Dom Fuas become enamoured with Dona Clóris and Dona Nise, the two nieces of the miser Dom Lanserote; Semicúpio, Dom Gilvaz’s servant, falls in love with their maid Sevadilha. Dona Nise gives her suitor a sprig of marjoram, Dona Clóris gives hers a sprig of rosemary and Sevadilha gifts hers a daisy; they encourage them to make these symbols triumph. The old Fagundes, Dom Lanserote’s maid, agrees to help the lovers. She reveals that one of the young women is promised to the foolish Dom Tibúrcio, and that the other will be sent to a convent. While Dom Tibúrcio is wooing Sevadilha, Semicúpio sneaks into the house; he is carrying a bundle of rosemary for Dom Gilvaz. When he faints, Fagundes sprays water on him and then leaves him with Sevadilha. The two servants bond; this ingenious couple will drive the action of the play. Dom Gilvaz catches Dom Fuas as he is climbing a ladder to break into the house: everyone enters the house and the two rivals, envying each other, engage in dialogues with their beloved. Dom Lanserote stops these outpourings. To escape this bad situation, Semicúpio claims that there is a fire and breaks down the door: the two lords, cornered, pretend to have come to put out the fire. Dom Fuas hides in a trunk to get into the house; he is carried by Semicúpio, who then hides his master Dom Gilvaz in it. While Dom Tibúrcio is courting Sevadilha, Dom Lanserote urges him to choose which of his nieces he will marry. They sit on the trunk. When it is knocked down, the candle goes out: the women arrive on stage for a night scene filled with much confusion. Dom Tibúrcio and Dom Lanserote want to open the trunk, but Dona Nise chases them away by talking about a ghost. Dom Gilvaz thanks Dona Nise, which arouses Dom Fuas’s jealousy. Then Dom Fuas speaks with Dona Clóris, arousing Dom Gilvaz’s jealousy. Semicúpio falls into the trunk. Dom Lanserote and Dom Tibúrcio arrive with light: they open the trunk, out of which comes Semicúpio; as he flees, he blows out the candle and shoves the other characters, who all believe that they are being pushed by their respective companion. The wedding is temporarily cancelled after this quarrel. Dom Gilvaz is waiting for Dona Clóris. He asks Dona Nise to hide him, but Dom Fuas and Dona Clóris find him: they both believe that their lovers have betrayed them. Dom Lanserote has reconciled with his nephew; he summons his nieces and, once again, asks Dom Tibúrcio to choose between them. Dom Fuas, Dom Gilvaz and Semicúpio, dressed as women, accuse Dom Tibúrcio of polygamy: he is forced to leave. In his misfortune, Dom Tibúrcio requires medical care: Dom Fuas, Dom Gilvaz and Semicúpio, dressed as doctors, tell him that he is pregnant; they also prescribe natural remedies to their beloved—marjoram, rosemary and daisy. Dom Gilvaz and his servant break into the garden using a rope. Dom Lanserote is there; he catches Semicúpio and locks him inside the henhouse. By mistake, Dom Fuas sits by the marjoram, and Dom Gilvaz by the rosemary: their lovers come to water the plants and find them: this is the beginning of another fit of jealousy from Dom Fuas and Dona Clóris. Dom Lansarote arrives: the lovers hide in the henhouse, as does Dom Tibúrcio. A judicial officer—Semicúpio in disguise—is with Dom Lanserote: he asks the hiding man to come out of the henhouse and arrests all the lords who walk out of it. In a parodical trial, Semicúpio finds the young women guilty of theft for having stolen the heart of the two lords, and sentences them to marriage; he requests that the costs be covered by Dom Lansarote and Dom Tibúrcio. The weddings put an end to the quarrel between rosemary and marjoram.

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

Portugal

Lisbon

Rivalry in love

Suitors

Deception

Justice

Wedding

Dramatic

Lyrical

António José da Silva, Guerras do Alecrim e Mangerona (1759)

Portuguese

Lord

Legal guardian

Niece

Old woman

Servant

Jack of all trades

Seduction scene

Misunderstanding

Hidden character

Running away

Punching

Disguise

Night scene

Macaronic Latin

Arrest scene

Confinement

Court scene

Guerras do Alecrim e Mangerona

Wars of the Rosemary and of the Marjoram

Casperl gets drunk with the hunter Thomerl and Thomerl offers to put Casperl’s wife Grethl to the test: Casperl has to fake an illness that will lead to his death, and Thomerl, disguised as a doctor, will come and certify the death. As soon as Casperl is pronounced dead, Grethl tries to console herself in the arms of Lieutenant Pulvermann. The fake dead man is resurrected, a fight ensues in which Pulvermann is killed and the corpse is taken backstage. A police officer comes to seize Casperl, but husband and wife join forces against the impetuous man, who is forced to give in to the violence. To celebrate their reconciliation, Casperl and Grethl go to the inn, where they also meet with Thomerl.

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Household

Philosophy

Beer

Wine

Gluttony

Doctor

Drunkenness

Grief

Scatology

Reconciliation

Tavern

German

Ein beispielloses Spektakelstück

Kasperl

Thomerl

Mrs Kasperl

Lieutenant

Police officer

Monologue

Macaronism

Word for another

Song

Spying scene

Parody of formal language

Aside

Fake death

Dream

Brawl

Murder on stage

Dance

Slaps

Die Prüfung

The test

Doctor Sassafras is pleased to have a client as hypochondriac as Steinreich. This rich and selfish man forbids his niece Marie from continuing to see his secretary Schreiber, whom he dismisses. Steinreich envisions a more beneficial match for his niece. Doctor Sassafras makes a deal with the devil to summon Death. Schreiber then attempts suicide, but a gravedigger saves him, as Death is detained in Sassafras’ enchanted chair. The Devil realises that his pact with Sassafras is detrimental to him and breaks their contract. Death comes fetch the doctor, who turns to God and hopes for His mercy. In the meantime, Steinreich converted: he has become charitable and, most importantly, no longer opposes Marie and Schreiber’s union.

String marionette

Young audiences

Knödel

Usurpation

Drink

Surgery

Prestige

Wealth

Champagne

Misery

Hypochondria

Vanity

Cemetery

Faust

Bible

Suicide

Sentimentalism

Religion

Pathetic

Title page in the original edition of Pocci's comedies

oder Doctor, Tod und Teufel

Secretary

Death

Devil

Peasant (man)

Domestic servant

Gravedigger

Apparition

Dialect as a social marker

Versified passages

Allegory

Light effects

Pact with the devil

Off-stage voice

Philosophical dialogue

Doctor Sassafras

Catalysterium, a fake doctor, breaks into the Niflanguille's house and diagnoses the couple and their servant with a supposedly fatal disease. He asks them to stay in bed, eats their food and prescribes very expensive medicines (in fact water) to rob them. Mr. Niflanguille finds out about the scam and gets his money back. Cataclysterium is beaten by the Niflanguille and their servant and forced to take an oath to give up medicine forever.