Rosalinde, dressed as a male student, enters Doctor Faust’s home and gives him a book of magical spells. As a consequence, Faust believes he is making a deal with the devil, but he is in fact the victim of a trick orchestrated by the young woman, who conspired with Faust’s houseboy – Hans Wurst. When Satan comes back at midnight, he tells Faust that he has no intention of keeping his promises, and that the poor man has sold his soul for nothing. And yet, he grants him a final trial, which could save him from Hell: Faust must resist the gorgeous Helen of Troy. But he gives in the moment that she appears to him. Rosalinde then reveals that she was both the devil and the beautiful Helen: it is to her that he has devoted his body and soul. The play ends with two weddings, as Rosalinde’s servant, Lisette, is Hans Wurst’s sweetheart.

Not specified

Germany

Augsburg

Printed

Scholar

Sorcery

Madness

Humour

Professor

Gluttony

Doctor

Sophism

Devil

Joke

Morality

Woman

Seduction

Comical

Parodistic

Satirical

Title page of the play in Johann Scheible's Das Kloster (1847)

German

Faust

Hanswurst

Domestic servant

Student

Helen of Troy

Monologue

Aside

Disguise

Cross-dressing

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Sung scenes

Word for another

Chorus

Pact with the devil

Misunderstanding

Scene of recognition

Final wedding

Final song

Johann Faust oder der gefoppte Doktor

Johann Faust or the duped doctor

The tenants of a building (a Baroness, a Knight and a Marquis) meet to ask their landlord, Monsieur Dubost, to evict Guignol, another tenant who plays tricks on them. For instance, he ties a cat to a bell-rope, puts a tight string in the stairs so that everyone who walks there falls, nails planks on the door of an apartment and writes “closed due to a death”. The landlord asks that Guignol explain himself and the latter tells him that this is how he takes revenge on his neighbours for what they put him through. Because he cannot evict Guignol since he pays his rent duly, he offers him to change apartments but Guignol requests a hundred ecus to move out. The landlord refuses and then fetches the Bailli (bailiff) to make a complaint. The Bailli wants Guignol arrested and calls two Cavaliers (Knights) to help him. Guignol drives the three of them out by handing them blows with a stick.

Glove-puppet

Vuillerme-Dunand Victor-Napoléon

France

Paris

Manuscript

Neighbourhood

Revenge

Expulsion

Relocation

Arrest

Farcical

Les Locataires, manuscript given to the censure authorities, 1866.

French

Guignol

Landlord

Baroness

Knight

Marquis

Story

Apparition

Argument

Fight

Blow-with-a-stick

Les Locataires

The Tenants

Surprised by a downpour, Prince Alfred and his companion von Edelfels take refuge in Casperl’s household while Grethl waits for her husband to return from the inn. Casperl arrives in a very drunken state and immediately falls asleep. The prince, who had retired with von Edelfels to a nearby hovel, has an idea for a joke. He has the sleeping Casperl taken to a luxurious room, where he is treated with full honours. Soon Casperl does not know whether he is Casperl or Prince Schnuri... Pretending to be his doctor, Prince Alfred gives him a sleeping pill, and Casperl wakes up a few hours later in his old room. Von Edelfels, disguised as a magician, assures him that he is indeed Prince Schnuri, but that as a punishment for being a drunkard he has been turnt into a ‘dumb man’. Casperl finds Grethl and promises to make amends, all while announcing that he will drink many more litres of beer.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Excessive drinking

Household

Rain

Aristocracy

Luxury

Sausage

Metempsychosis

Black

Magic

Otto von Bismarck

Tavern

Moralische Komödie in drei Aufzügen

Prince

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Moorish

Valet

Off-stage voice

Spying scene

Parody of formal language

Brawl

Pyrotechnics

Board

Current affairs

Incognito

Casperl als Prinz

Casperl prince

Two presenters (Tall Ringmaster and Blue Ringmaster) take turns announcing different acts. A variety of characters enter the scene while two clowns, Tuff and Cream, exchange jokes and riddles. In the second part, horsemen from around the world and from every era ride in one by one.