Incarcerated for his debts, Casperl is freed from prison by a small child, Capricerl, who is the guide of Fortuna, the blind goddess. While being pursued, Casperl finds refuge with Klaus, a hermit who reveals himself to be the Devil. However, Fortuna bet against Bios, the genie of life, that her gifts could make someone happy: Casperl will be her guinea pig. She repels the Devil and makes Casperl win the lottery. But the newly rich man is tyrannical and angry to the point of becoming sick. He goes so far as to miss the simple and modest life he once had, and curses his fortune. The goddess understands her defeat and brings him back to his normal self. Casperl goes to the inn.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Despair

Thirst

Destiny

Debt

Happiness

Blindness

Widower

Gas balloon

Jail

Philosophy

Grief

Breaking out

Latin Mythology

Bingo

Tavern

Fantasy

Burlesque

German

Kasperl im Schuldturm

Genie

Goddess of Fortune

Kasperl

Innkeeper

Old man

Hermit

Devil

Police officer

Verschiedene Erscheinungen und Verwandlungen

Apparition

Allegory

Monologue

Off-stage voice

Flying machine

Song

Apparition of the Devil

Versified passages

Pact with the devil

Word for another

Thunderbolt

Chorus

Story

Metatheatre

Metamorphosis

Transforming scenery

Address to the public

Slaps

Das Glück ist blind

Luck is blind

A poet comes out of his bath to walk on a bridge and enjoy the sunset. A gardener walks past him and mentions the glorious life he gave up in order to cultivate flowers. A young man relates his day spent hunting alone. Then comes a stranger, and after him a girl who is listening to a traveling singer. Night has now fallen. A group of three people arrives on the bridge: a madman, his servant, and a doctor. The madman is a young nobleman who had a life of abundance before devoting himself to solitude and to roaming. He meditates on the illusion of all things while leaning on the bannister. He tries to throw himself in the water, but his comrades prevent him from doing so.

Not specified

Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August

Austria

Bad Fusch

Bath

Evening

Landscape

Flowers

Loneliness

Glory

Misery

Hunting

Dream

River

Childhood

Night

Melancholy

Madness

Illusion

Suicide

Lyrical

Oder die Glücklichen

Gardener

Poet

Street singer

Fool

Domestic servant

Physician

Teichoscopy

Light effects

Das kleine Welttheater

The small theatre of the world

In the prologue, Laius asks the oracle about his son’s fate and, when he learns that his son will kill him and marry his mother Jocasta, he orders Creon to kill his son. Creon, however, abandons the child in a forest instead, where he is found by a shepherd named Faggiolino, who brings the infant to the king of Corinth, Polybus. The action of the play starts twenty years later. Oedipus consults the oracle about his fortune and he learns what was already predicted and told to Laius: he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus goes in search of his true parents and, on the way there, he fights Laius and kills him. Upon his arrival in Thebes, Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sfinge (Sphinx) who then kills herself. In return for his victory, Oedipus is made king of Thebes and the widowed Jocasta, his mother, becomes his wife. The gods, irritated by this incestuous union, start an epidemic in Thebes, which lasts until the prophet Esone explains its cause. Upon learning the truth, Oedipus, horrified, gouges out his own eyes and kills himself.

Glove-puppet

Cuccoli Angelo

Italy

Bologna

Handwritten summary

Greek mythology

Parricide

Incest

Oracle

Tragic

Italian

King

Laius

Queen

Jocasta

Creon

Oedipus

Minister

Priest

Fagiolino

Shepherd

Augur

General

Prologue

Duel scene

Unveiling

Self-mutilation

Suicide on stage

Edipo Re di Tebe con Faggiolino pastore

Oedipus king of Thebes with Faggiolino the shepherd

Worried about his succession, the lion king Maghan listens to the predictions of fortune tellers and marries Sogolon Kédjou, the buffalo-woman, despite her ugliness; he has a son with her, Sunjata, who is destined to be king of Manding. This choice prompts the anger of his first wife, Sassouma Bérété, for Maghan is depriving their son, Dankara Touman, of his prestigious heritage. Young Sunjata grows up, but, at seven years old, still does not walk. The crowd rumbles against this infirm heir, becomes threatening and eventually declares Dankara Touman the head of the kingdom. Growing old, king Maghan, still believing the words of the fortune tellers, entrusts his griot to Sunjata, and by doing so, contests Dankara’s legitimacy. Exasperated, Sassouma Bérété solicits a group of witches to murder young Sunjata, but this plan fails. She demands that the griot be abducted and sent to the court of Manding’s great enemy, Soumaoro Kanté, king of Sosso. After a lively argument with his half-brother Dankara, Sunjata, driven out from the kingdom, goes into exile. He finds refuge at the court of king Mamé where he receives training and becomes a great warrior. In his absence, Soumaoro Kanté has had multiple conquests, thus leading to Dankara Touman taking flight, and to the doom of the kingdom of Manding. Called by his mother who implores him to come back in order to fulfil his destiny, Sunjata returns, applauded by the crowd. Determined, he declares war against Soumaoro Kanté. The griot relates Sunjata’s war exploits and sings his glorious posterity.

Body shadows

Shadow theatre

France

Strasbourg

Aulnay-sous-bois

Electronic text

Africa

Oral tradition

Legendary King

Tale

Bravery

Conquest

Revenge

Griot

Crowd

Ugliness

Infirmity

Music and esotericism

Return

Disability

Epic

Dramatic

Amoros et Augustin and Ki-Yi M'Bock Théâtre, Sunjata, photograph of the performance