The play starts with the initial call of the town crier announcing the arrival, early in the morning, of the dulcian player. The bell is rung three times to catch people’s attention and the dulcian player plays his first notes: the first parade of the festival begins. Then the mayor makes a speech inviting everyone to come to the celebration. The town crier then introduces the procession of Sant Antoni (Saint Anthony), with the dance “dels cavallets” (the “little horses”, or skirted hobby horses). The fishmonger then announces the Saint’s celebration, by imitating the sermon of the priest using a hagiographic tone. Then, interrupting the procession, the devil appears and incites everyone to follow him, but the angel appears and fights the Devil: the procession resumes. Then the “Cabut” (a big head) invites people to dance with other big heads and with giants to the sound of the dulcians. Once the march is over and people have returned to the main square, the town crier shouts and the bull is released (the effigy of a bull mounted on wheels), the balls fixated on the bull’s horns are set on fire and all the other rituals surrounding the ancestral rite of the “toro embolat” (the burning bull) begin, as the music of the dulcians still plays. The show and the festive episode itself end with the town crier announcing the final dance, which can be accompanied by songs and a bonfire.

Costume puppet

Skirted hobby horse

All audiences

Spain

Villarreal

Tales

Printed

Street theatre

Popular festival

Traditional music

Cult of the saints

Religious

Comical

Cover page of the edition of El dolçainer de Tales. Xarxa Teatre. Castelló: Diputació de Castelló, 1987.

Catalan

Town crier

Mayor

Fishmonger (lady)

Priest

Angel

Devil

Big head

Musician

Young woman

Procession

Theatre within the theatre

Dance

Monologue

Pyrotechnics

El dolçainer de Tales

The dulcian player from Tales

Pulcinella and Death have a daughter, Baby, who suffers from the difficulties of her parents' separation: Pulcinella is now engaged to Teresina and wants Death to leave him alone. Death would like Baby to become a great actress, so she has enrolled her in an acting class: the end-of-year recital is the next day. During the night, Pulcinella steals the poem Baby was supposed to recite and she loses her voice. In an attempt to get it back, Baby enters Pulcinella's belly to retrieve the poem. When Baby emerges from Pulcinella's belly, Teresina, who had prayed to San Gennaro to give her a child with Pulcinella, thinks that Baby is their longed-for child. So, when Death is about to take Baby back, Teresina makes a jealous scene and gets angry at Pulcinella. Death begs Pulcinella to return, but to no avail. Finally, Baby grows up and manages to do the job she wanted: driver of the Neapolitan underground called "Circumvesuviana".