Theseus – duke of Athens – has just prevailed against Creon – king of Thebes. Palamon and Arcite, two Theban cousins, are found alive. Theseus imprisons them for life. The two cousins promise to never betray one another. Yet, when they hear Theseus’ sister, Emely, sing in the garden under their cell, they both fall in love with her. Their promise is then broken. In the garden, Emely finds a love letter addressed to her. She understands that it was written by a prisoner (the one whose face she has seen behind the bars of the cell, she believes). She makes a vow of chastity, promises allegiance to the goddess Diana and to the author of the letter, and then she declares that she will reject anyone that courts her. She then declines the advances of the King of India, the Duke of Brittany and the Emperor of Rome. A Theban asked for Arcite to be released. His sentence is overturned by Theseus, but he must flee Athens or be put to death. He is then seen disguised as Pentheo, who stages a masque (a sung and danced show) attended by Emely. This metatheatrical scene reproduces the story of Emely and Arcite and ends with a song. Luciana, Emely’s lady-in-waiting, has put the guards to sleep – Palamon is now free, and he meets Emely in the garden. They promise to be faithful to each other for the rest of their life. When Palamon and Arcite meet again in a forest, they start a duel – interrupted by the arrival of Theseus, who spares their lives on condition that they promise to not wage war on him. He also declares that the cousin who wins a tournament will marry Emely. Then, Palamon, Emely and Arcite respectively pray Venus, Diana and Mars, who all appear to them. Arcite wins the tournament, but he is seriously injured and eventually dies. Palamon mourns the death of his cousin, who was a friend and like a brother to him. Theseus makes a speech in his memory.

Not specified

Printed

Promise

Rivalry in love

Imprisonment

Chastity

Spring

Gods

Show

Tournament

Dramatic

Lyrical

Tragic

English

A play for puppets

Theatre within the theatre

Duel scene

Release of a prisoner

Love rivalry

Letter

Song

Prayer

Disguised character (false identity)

Apparition of a god

Palamon and Arcite

In a prison, two exceptional prisoners, Jesus and Pinocchio, talk to each other from the communicating wall of their prison cells, without seeing each other. They talk about the gymnastics they do to distract themselves, about homecountry and homesickness, about their fiancées, everything they miss outside of these four walls. Pinocchio does not believe in the miracles Jesus tells him, but when questioned, he claims to believe in them and his nose gets longer. In their dialogue, they discover they have a lot in common: their condition as persecuted by justice or the fact that they can both walk on water. In the end, the guards come for Jesus; while he is happy and thinks that the men have realised that they have made a mistake in imprisoning him, Pinocchio has a bad feeling and, in vain, shouts at him from his cell not to follow them.

Glove-puppet

Adults

Brunello Gigio

Italy

Mogliano Veneto

Justice

Miracle

Innocence

Nose lengthening

Comical

Italian

Pinocchio

Heureux ceux qui sont persécutés pour la justice, car le royaume des cieux est à eux.

Jesus

Dialogue between characters who do not see each other

Conversation

Confinement

Beati i perseguitati a causa della giustizia perché di essi è il regno dei cieli

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven