The Spanish grandee Don Marcello has two daughters: one is well-behaved (Eleonore), while the other is always uncooperative (Mariane). Mariane is in love with Count Alfonso, who killed his only brother in a sword fight. Mariane is to be sent to a monastery, but she asks her lover to run away with her. The count’s servant Casper steals the chimney sweep’s ladder and makes preparations for their escape. Egidio – a pious man – tries to stop them from fleeing, and he convinces Don Alfonso to give up on his venture. In the end, Egidio himself runs off with Mariane, who he is secretly in love with. They both join a group of thieves. Egidio kills their leader and replaces him. While Don Marcello is traveling with his other daughter, Eleonore, he is taken prisoner by Mariane, who hides behind a mask. Her father has not recognised her, and she obtains his blessing and forgiveness for having wronged him. When she meets Don Alfonso in the forest, she finds out that he did not betray her, and that he still loves her. She gives him a ring which he must give to Don Marcello, while telling him that his beloved is forever lost and that he, his father, will never see her again either. Mariane forces Casper to sell her as a slave to her father. When he arrives on Don Marcello’s grounds, Don Alfonso gives him the ring. As a consequence, Don Marcello believes that Don Alfonso plotted Mariane’s abduction, before abandoning her. Then Casper appears, disguised as a slave trader. Don Marcello wants to do a good deed by buying back the freedom of the slave he is selling. But Casper reveals that she is a thief. Then Mariane, disguised as a slave, goes as far as pretending that she is Mariane’s assassin. But her father recognises her and forgives her; her fiancé does the same. Egidio appears and confesses to what he has done. He is also forgiven. Mariane and Don Marcello are given permission to marry, and Egidio marries Eleonore. As for Casper, he eventually marries the chamber maid Charlotte, but only when she proposes to him – because this has become the established practice.

String marionette

Not specified

Germany

Crottendorf

Manuscript

Robber

Emancipation

Kidnapping

Women's condition

Father

Hypocrisy

Slavery

Nobility

Spain

Comical

Dramatic

Theaterzettel, Heinrich Rau, Eppendorf in Sachsen, before 1875

German

Der weibliche Straßenräuber

Noble

Count

Kasperl

Servant

Chambermaid

Chimney sweeper

Cross-dressing

Final wedding

Monologue

Disguise

Disguised character (false identity)

Mariane

Polichinelle tells the Compère the story how he became Pluton (Pluto)’s coachman. He helps the latter capture Proserpine. Her mother – Cérès (Ceres) – protests, but Jupiter declares that Proserpine will be handed back to Ceres on condition that she does not eat or drink anything in the Underworld. Polichinelle testifies that he has seen Proserpine eat “way more than just a pear”. Jupiter therefore rules that Pluton can keep her.

Rod and string marionette

France

Paris

Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Printed

Mother-daughter relationship

Greek mythology

Hell

Judgment of God

Devil

Horse

Coachman

Glory

Carriage

Minuet

Parodistic

Farcical

French

Polichinelle

The Interpreter

Pluto

Faun

Proserpina

Pallas

Ceres

Apparition of a god

Bawdy equivocation

Comic equivocation

Instrumental tune

Dialogue with a character in the audience

L'Enlèvement de Proserpine par Pluton roi des Enfers

The Abduction of Prosperpine by Pluton king of the Underworld

The Compère (Stooge) is looking forward to the next Polichinelle performance. But one of the actresses, Mademoiselle Godon, is not happy with her role and complains to the author Farinet. A quarrel begins between her sister Manon and their mother. Infuriated, Farinet leaves with his play, which he lends to another theatre. Polichinelle must therefore improvise an impromptu: in it, he plays the lover who abducts his mistress Lolotte, with her consent, to force her father Géronte to let them marry.

Theaters of the Parisian fairs

Playwright

Argument

Seduction

Satirical

Manuscript of La Pièce manquée et de L'Impromptu de Polichinelle (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ms. fr. 9318).

Poet

Pierrot

Metatheatre

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Aria

Final song

Prologue

La Pièce manquée et L'Impromptu de Polichinelle

The missed Play and Polichinelle's Impromptu

Alcide (Alcides) is in love with Alceste (Alcestis) and grieves when she marries Admète (Admetus). Straton learns that Céphise is leaving him, since she loves Licas now. Lycomède (Lycomedes), another character in love with Alceste, is planning a party in honour of the newly-wed—Admète and Alceste. He abducts Alceste, taking her to his ship guarded by his sister Thétis, who unleashes a tempest soon stopped by Eole (Aeolus). Licomède holds Alceste captive, but Alcide and Admète arrive with an army to set her free. The assailants win the battle, but Admète is mortally wounded. Apollon (Apollo) announces that he will come back to life if someone agrees to die in his stead: Alceste decides to sacrifice herself. Alcide makes her cross the Styx. Pluton (Pluto) does not care about Alceste’s sacrifice. Alcide arrives and asks for Alceste; she is handed back to him. Licas and Straton ask Céphise to choose between them, then the three of them agree that you should not marry if you want to stay in love. At first, Alcide wants to assert his rights over Alceste; however, he renounces when he witnesses the sorrow of the two lovers: he gives Alceste back to Admète.

Love

Sacrifice

Heroism

Battle

Siege

Grief

Descent into hell

Trap

Immortality

Hercules

Alcestis

Admetus

Lycomedes

Lychas

Thétis

Eole

Apollo

Mercury

Charon

Shadow

Combattant

Choir

Monster

Comical regional accent

Spectacular turn of events

Ballet

Song

Love rivalry

Alceste

Don Juan witnesses Donna Amarilles' declaration of love to Don Philippo and decides to get to the meeting place before his rival. Through the intervention of his servant Hans Wurst, he asks his father Don Alfaro for ten thousand thalers. The latter has two coins given to them, so that they can both buy ropes to hang themselves. Don Juan beats his father and robs him. He tries to abduct Donna Amarilles but he is caught by her father, Don Pedro, and kills him. The boat Don Juan and Hans Wurst flee on sinks but they both survive and find shelter with a hermit in the woods. Don Juan is disguised – he is wearing the hermit’s trousers – and kills Don Philippo who was chasing him. He then tries to rape a shepherdess and a princess he met in the woods. He kills the princess because she was fighting him. Don Juan and Hans Wurst finally reach the cemetery where Don Pedro’s equestrian statue stands, and they invite him over for dinner. The statue agrees, but in the end, Don Juan will go to it for a midnight feast in the cemetery. Don Pedro urges him to do penance, but he refuses and is damned. He then repents for his sins. An angel offers him forgiveness for his sins. He does not think he is worthy of it and is carried away by Furies from the Underworld. As for Hans Wurst, he drives out two devils who offered him a similar dinner.

Strasbourg

Seducer

Unwelcome seducer

Assassination

Valet

Murder

Serial murder

Phantom

Revenant

Religion

Morality

Abduction

Fish

Leviathan

Jonas

Forest

Cemetery

Didactic

Straßburger Don Juan-Puppenspiel

Don Alfaro

Don Juan

Don Pietro

Donna Marillis

Don Filippo

Sheperherdess

Hermit

Hanswurst

Angel

Ghost

Apparition

Flying machine

Final intervention of the devil

Word for another

Dialogue between characters who do not see each other

Murder on stage

Light effects

Don Juan oder der Steinerne Gast

Don Juan or the Stone Guest

Dragonne, the Génie’s daughter, is bored. She can neither talk with humans nor leave the forest, because the rivers are controlled by her father’s enemy, Fée Écrevisse (Fairy Crayfish). Being far-sighted, the Génie has prepared a gift for his daughter: the Jam-e-Jam Numai, or the mirror of the universe. This magical mirror shows everything one could want to see, across the entire world. However, the Génie imposes a condition on his daughter: she must never say the name of Fée Écrevisse; if she does, she would fall under her power – irreversibly so. Once she has the mirror, Dragonne watches a fight, hoping that she will find her husband. She focuses on a young warrior, Prince Belle-Épine (Beautiful-Thorn). She orders her father, the Génie, to plan her wedding with this knight. However, the young man is under the protection of Fée Écrevisse, and the king has already decided to marry him to his own daughter Églantine (French medieval name, literally meaning dog rose). Furious, Dragonne laments her fate and says that she is the most unhappy person in the world. Then, looking into the mirror again, she sees the princess Églantine: she orders the Génie to abduct her and make her prisoner. Prince Papillon (Butterfly) arrives at the king’s palace. Chevalier Belle-Épine, the king’s future son-in-law, has given princess Églantine three magical animals: a cat whose fur bristles every time someone tells a lie, a serin that can speak, and a mouse that can sneak everywhere. However, many at court are against this wedding: they do not trust a man capable of obtaining such gifts. Prince Papillon arrives and immediately seduces the entire assembly. He reveals that he has been defeated by Reine Abeille (Queen Bee); he asks the king to protect him. Benevolent, the king offers to accommodate him for three days at the palace. The audience then learns that Prince Papillon wants to marry Princesse Églantine. The third scene begins with Princesse Églantine going missing. The entire court accuses Chevalier Belle-Épine, because the magical animals he has given the princess have also disappeared. Soon after, Prince Papillon also vanishes. Distraught, the knight asks Fée Écrevisse for help: no one but her can counter the power of the Génie, who is the only one capable of catching the magical animals. In the fourth scene, Princesse Églantine, the animals and Prince Papillon are in Dragonne’s cave. The latter wonders whether Chevalier Belle-Épine will come to save his beloved. She demands that the prince and the princess marry, so that the knight can stay with her. She locks them both in a cage, with the animals. The mouse escapes and the serin points the princess to the magical mirror, which is behind the cage. Thanks to it, they can know what is happening in the kingdom. In a hurry, the knight steps on the mouse and kills it. Dragonne comes back; thanks to the mirror, she sees the knight approaching the cave. She hides the prince and the princess in a place even more secret. Meanwhile, the cat manages to leave the cage and hides.
Dragonne welcomes the knight and relates that she saw Princesse Églantine, radiant, in the forest, walking with a prince that looked like a butterfly. The knight takes her word for it. However, the cat suddenly crosses the stage; his fur is bristling. The knight understands that he has been lied to: he declares that he loves Princesse Églantine and promises to take revenge. He steals the magical mirror to give it to Fée Écrevisse, who would do anything to obtain it. Dragonne tells the knight to bid the princess and the prince goodbye, as they will be left with the tigers in the forest. But the knight runs towards the mirror and calls Fée Écrevisse: she appears, furious. With a magical gesture, she turns Dragonne into a lioness. The knight and Princesse Églantine’s wedding can finally be celebrated. The fairy also conjures Reine Abeille, so she can resolve her conflict with Prince Papillon. After a short but decisive conversation, Reine Abeille agrees to marry Prince Papillon. Together, they go back to their kingdom.

Young audiences

Bernard Laure

Le Havre

Father-daughter relationship

Whim

Fairy

Magic

Prince

Knighthood

Rivalry in love

Kingdoms

Princess

Happy marriage

Fantasy

Illustration for Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique (Laure Bernard, Théâtre de marionnettes, 1837).

King

Knight

Genie

Daughter

Queen

Nurse

Governess

Dancer

Mouse

Bird

Apparition of a genie

Object magically appearing

Talking animal

Aside

Initiatory quest

Hidden character

Metamorphosis

Magical formula

Character represented in animal form

Change of head on sight

Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique

The Jam-e-Jam Numai or the Magical Mirror

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.

Mariane

Der weibliche Straßenräuber

L'Enlèvement de Proserpine par Pluton roi des Enfers

La Pièce manquée et L'Impromptu de Polichinelle

Alceste

Don Juan oder der Steinerne Gast

Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique

La Case de la sorcière

Kasperl bei den Menschenfressern

Blaubart

Guignol à Fachoda