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 action is set in China. It begins inside a cave, where the genie Zelou has been turned into the Mostro Turchino (Blue Monster) after having offended the Wise Men of the Sacred Mountain. Zelou will only be freed if he passes this curse to someone else. He unleashes a storm on the lovers Taer and Dardanè and thus separates them. The young girl, Dardanè, is turned into a young man named Acmed; Zelou reveals that she will have to defeat three plagues which are ruining the kingdom of Nanquin if she wants to reunite with her lover Taer: the Mostro Turchino, the Cavaliere Fatato (Enchanted Knight) and an Idra (seven-headed Hydra). These three plagues appeared in the kingdom when the king Fanfur remarried with the beautiful slave Gulindì. Dardanè, looking like the prince Acmed, arouses Gulindì’s love; when she is rejected, the latter forces Dardanè to defeat the plagues. Then, Zelou meets Taer and tells him about Dardanè / Acmed’s fate and about the threats that loom over the kingdom. He invites Taer to enter the cave to read a book which relates his misadventures; then, Zelou summons the Wise Men and passes the Mostro’s appearance onto Taer. Thanks to the Mostro Turchino / Taer’s valuable advice, Dardanè / Acmed defeats the plagues. The Mostro Turchino lets himself be chained, without struggling; the Cavaliere is overcome and, when Dardanè kills the Idra, she also kills Gulindì. Just before she dies, the latter accuses Dardanè / Acmed of having poisoned her. Dardanè / Acmed is sent to jail with the Mostro Turchino. When she is about to be taken to be put to death, the Mostro Turchino reveals the young woman’s true identity, thus breaking the spell which was keeping her in a male body. The Mostro must die, since he has not managed to make Dardanè fall in love with his grotesque appearance; however, just before it is too late, she declares her love to him and the spell which bound Taer to the Mostro’s body is also broken.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

Italy

Milan

Manuscript

Change of identity

Change of gender

Scourge

Il Mostro Turchino, Teatro delle marionette di Giuseppe Fiando, 1815 (cover page)

Italian

ossia un esempio di vera fedeltà

Genie

Prince

Slave

Colombine

Gerolamo

Balanzone

Tartaglia

Brighella

Captain

Knight

Executioner

The Blue Monster (Il Mostro Turchino)

Apparition of a genie

One character replaced by another

Metamorphosis

Fighting a monster

Fight

Aside

Avista

Death on stage

Stormy scene

Il Mostro Turchino

The Blue Monster

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

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.