After having sung the duke of Burgundy's praises, Polichinelle reappears with Madame Gigogne. Both of them start to dance. Madame Gigogne gives birth to girls who give birth to other girls. Polichinelle is delighted about being the grandfather of this “nursery” and promises that it will be at the service of the duke. He asks the duke to recognise him as the only Polichinelle allowed at court.

Rod and string marionette

Young audiences

France

Paris

Printed

Childbirth

Priviledge

Siege

Praise

Laudatory

Comical

Fantasy

French

suivi d'un combat naval et d'un siège de ville

Polichinelle

The Interpreter

Mother Gigogne

Ballet

Multiplied characters

Song

Childbirth on stage

Naval combat

Intermède de marionnettes

Interlude for puppets

Hanswurst is thrown out like trash from the stage of the Berlin theatre following the success of Voltaire’s tragedy Alzire. He is exiled to Salzbourg, where he lodges at Stoffel Knips’ house and seduces his host’s wife. Stoffel Knips catches them in the act and throws them out. Hanswurst’s distress is such that he tries to kill himself. But thunder strikes the branch on which he was hanging. Two Turks pass by the unconscious couple and take them aboard their felucca going to Turkey. During the trip, Madame Knips gives birth to two children – a boy and a girl – who grow extremely fast. In Turkey, Hanswurst is castrated to be made a eunuch in the Sultan’s seraglio. Madame Knips fell in the sea with her son during the trip, but she manages to swim to shore. She competes with her daughter for the Sultan’s favours; Hanswurst takes offence and makes a scene. He is banished by the Sultan as a result, and returns to Berlin, where he meets a prostitute. He recognizes one of the brothel’s clients as his own son, who also escaped drowning and became a pedant professor of philosophy. During a lecture he gives on the German almanac Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek, published by Friedrich Christoph Nicolai, all the characters on stage die from atrocious diarrhoea.

Not specified

Schink Johann Friedrich

Germany

Berlin

Turkey

Sultan

Seraglio

Unfaithfulness

Prostitution

Suicide

Education

Literary criticism

Sturm und Drang

Genie

Adventure

Navigation

Human castration

Mutilation

Storm

Tempest

Scatology

Colic

Fart

Fornication

Triviality

Obscenity

Satirical

Anonymous illustration on the title page of Johann Friedrich Schink's collection Marionettentheater

German

Hanswurst

Madame Knips

Turk

Sailor

Daughter

Physician

Slave

Lady

Old woman

Prompter (theatre)

Scene of recognition

Bawdy equivocation

Splitting of the body

Prologue

Address to the public

Love story

Hanging scene

Play in verse

Epilogue

Unexpected turn of events

Brothel scene

Foul language register

Allusion to current literary events

Hanswurst von Salzburg mit dem hölzernen Gat

Hanswurst of Salzbourg with the wooden arse

Young candidates for marriage are swallowed whole by the Trou du Mariage (the Marriage Hole). Tévibar, who was swallowed, manages to come back out of the Hole. The Grand Sage Matoumoisien (The Great Wise Matoumasian) lets him know that this Hole makes the fake, the ugly, and the bad disappear; and because he was not swallowed, he might be the one who has come to forgive everyone and put an end to the threat of the Hole. Tévibar introduces himself to the assembly of the Grands Sages (the Great Wise Men) pretending to be who they expect him to be: Matoum. However, he has to accomplish three miracles and overcome the trial of the Trou de Justice (Hole of Justice). Tévibar makes the Grands Sages believe that he has overcome the first two miracles and then knocks them all out. He becomes a tyrant to all the people of Matoumoisie but ends up having to pass the trial of the Trou de Justice - it swallows him whole as he confesses to his deception. Matoum arrives to accomplish all the expected miracles. He transforms Matoumoisie, spreading joy and reconciliation but Tévibar stabs him. When the time comes to bury Matoum, his coffin is empty. Everybody bursts out laughing.

Glove-puppet

String marionette

Shadow theatre

Albert-Birot Pierre

Donkey

Wedding

Prophecy

Announcement of a messiah

Impostor

Levitation

Virgin mother of a child

Play on words

Cephalophoria

Racing car

Ugliness

Miracle

Decollation

Forgiveness

Reconciliation

Resurrection

Laughter

Lyrical

Philosophical tale

Serge Férat, suggestion of scenery for Matoum en Matoumoisie, 1937