The shepherd Floritan (Floridan) is in love with the shepherdess Dorinda, but she tells him that she will only answer to his love if he brings her water from a magical cave. Instead of doing it himself, Floritan sends his servant Hans (Kasper) to fetch that water. As a reward, he assures Hans that he will give him a trousseau so that he can marry Dorinda’s servant, Gretel. The latter has to prepare a jar to fetch water, but she refuses to give it to Hans because she thinks he is unfaithful. In fact, Hans is planning on marrying Dorinda if his adventure is a success. Hans and Floritan manage to get to the cave, each independently, but Floritan is scared and runs away. Karikux, the magician, denies entry to the cave to Hans, a devil breaks his pot, then he is eventually chased away by shrews. Hans tells his story, exaggerating it, to Floritan. Floritan gives up on going back to the cave to get water. Instead, Dorinda challenges him to kill a monster that is eating her sheep and goats. Hans, to whom Floritan has again promised money for his wedding, kills the monster for his master. He demands that Dorinda marry him, but she does not care about who has killed the monster, because she is, in fact, in love with Floritan, and with him only. Therefore, Dorinda gets married to Floritan, and Hans to Gretel.

String marionette

All audiences

Germany

Leipzig

Typewriting

Monster

Magic

Test

Cave

Jealousy

Love

Fantasy

Comical

Pastoral

Theaterzettel von Louis Regel aus Donndorf, Roßla am Harz um 1880

German

Sheperherdess

Shepherd

Kasperl

Farmhand

Maid

Magician

Devil

Ghost

Love story

Apparition

Apparition of the Devil

Song

Final wedding

Der Gang zur Zauberhöhle

The path to the magical cave

The enchanter Merlin captured Marie – the young woman loved by the painter Arthur. To free her, Arthur and his valet Guignol go through many adventures. Merlin comes into Arthur’s workshop so that he draws his portrait. Guignol also tries to paint Merlin’s portrait, but he fights with the painting, which keeps transforming because of the enchanter’s spells. Arthur then visits Merlin thanks to a gift from Marie’s godmother – the Fée Merveilleuse (Marvellous Fairy): a talisman that makes him invisible. Only Marie can see him. She advises him to go to the Sorcière’s hut (the Witch’s hut), which he does with Guignol. At the Sorcière’s hut, they meet the madman Richepance – her assistant. The Sorcière welcomes Arthur while Guignol is mistreated for a long time by the furniture of the house which keeps playing with him. Arthur and Guignol can finally save Marie. But she is under a spell by Merlin that makes her look very old. Arthur still wishes to free and marry her, but Marie believes that it would be too great a sacrifice for him to marry an old woman. Merlin is jubilant at the sight of the torn couple. The Fée Merveilleuse is moved by Arthur’s devotion. She sets Marie free from the spell and restores her true appearance. The lovers can finally marry, and Merlin is defeated.

Glove-puppet

France

Saint-Étienne

Manuscript

Valet

Kidnapping

Portrait

La Case de la sorcière (cover page)

French

Guignol

Merlin

Fairy

Situation comedy

Word warping

Apparition of a wizard

Magic spell

Set that comes to life

Slaps

Change of age

Invisible force

La Case de la sorcière

The witch's Hut

Jean is worried. Night is coming and he has nowhere to sleep. Tchantchès goes looking for a place to stay the night and, to prevent Jean from getting scared of the dark, he leaves him a bottle of peket (juniper beandy). As soon as Tchantchès has left, Jean empties the bottle and falls asleep. He is awoken by the arrival of the Capitaine (Captain) who tells him that he is looking for a brave knight in order to save Princesse Isabella. Drunk, Jean accepts the challenge. The Capitaine tells him that he needs to perform three tasks. The first test is to prevail over the Chevalier Noir (Black Knight), the second one is to answer two questions asked by Lucifer, and the last one is to fight Death. Jean passes all the tests and frees the princess, who falls in love with her saviour. The King gives Jean a new name, Jean-Sans-Peur (Jean-The-Fearless), offers Jean his daugther’s hand in marriage, and invites him to the castle. Tchantchès comes back to tell Jean that he has found a place to stay for the night, but his master is gone. He learns what happened from the public.