Guignol is riddled with debts and can no longer provide for his wife and his daughter Madelon. To get him out of trouble, his friend Grinchitoux suggests that he become an “apache” – that is, a thief – like him. Madelon begs her boyfriend Pintrus to prevent it. Grinchitoux takes Guignol to the edge of the forest, where he is asked to cause accidents and rob the travellers. When Guignol refuses, Grinchitoux threatens him with a gun. Pintrus tries to take Guignol back home, but the latter drives him off. The Baron de Pierrafeu’s car crashes. His valet Trouillard (meaning “lily-livered”) flees, and the Baron is taken inside a cave. Grinchitoux tortures him, until the Baron reveals where his money is hidden and hands him the key to his castle. The Baron is then left for dead. While Grinchitoux fails to find the money, Guignol, who was keeping watch, repents. Pintrus arrives and urges Guignol to flee, as the police is on its way – led by the Baron, who is still alive. Grinchitoux kills the valet Trouillard, then the Baron. He is apprehended by the Gendarme (policeman). Guignol is safe and alive, and he has become a perfect husband. He agrees to Madelon and Pintrus’ marriage. Grinchitoux is sentenced to death. He makes an attempt at escaping, but Guignol catches him, and he is hanged. Guignol treats the policeman and the hangman to a drink.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Printed

Debt

Bad husband

Devil

False friend

Robber

Burglar

Murderer

Accident

Ambush

Retribution

Repentance

Melodramatic

Dramatic

Didactic

Cover page of Henry de Graffigny's Guignol Apache

French

Mélodrame en cinq actes

Guignol

Painter

Lover

Baron

Valet de chambre

Domestic servant

Guignol’s wife

Madelon

Daughter

Guignol’s daughter

Mrs  Gribiche

Constable

Executioner

Chase

Blow-with-a-stick

Domestic scene

Aside

Offstage

Off-stage noise

Gunshot

Monologue

Hanging scene

Scene of torture

Fake death

Murder on stage

Death on stage

Guignol apache

The Wiseman Weitschuss has built a rocket to go to Mars. When Kasperl messes with the buttons, he accidentally causes the rocket to take off. He arrives on the red planet, where he teaches German to Martian Zweikopf, who brings him before the king. The latter wants to inspect the rocket and, pushing the wrong button, flies to Earth. The king is treated as an exotic creature and is exhibited at the zoo while the rocket returns to Mars. Kasperl escapes the vengeance of the Martians and returns to his parents.

String marionette

Not specified

Schuster Ludwig

Germany

Science fiction

Rocket

Glory

Mars Planet

Curiosity

Exoticism

Otherness

Communication

Journey

Hazard

Hunger

Couch

Fall

Fantasy

German

Marionettenspiel in sechs Aufzügen

Kasperl

Father

Mother

Engineer

Tamer

Martian

Minister

Monster

Imaginary language

Plot twist

Comic equivocation

Flying machine

Apparition of a monster

Falling from hangers

Die Fahrt zum Mars

Le voyage sur Mars

On the advice of Lafleur, Titine Calicot, gave up her studies and now works as a sales assistant in a sex shop. She thinks that Lafleur is a good man but Sandrine, his wife, does not agree with that. She believes he spends too much time with other women, does not work, does not earn any money and spends all of his free time drinking. Gégène, the owner of a pub, comes looking for Lafleur for he has not paid her in 6 months. Sandrine gets worried – if Lafleur is not at Gégène’s pub, where could he have gone? Papa Tchutchu, the landlord, demands that the rent for the past six months be paid. Sandrine tries to explain that she and her husband are living off her income, because Lafleur does not work and he claims to be ill. Papa Tchutchu hesitates over calling court baillifs, for Lafleur is capable of beating them and of making a scene. Gégène returns and explains that she has heard that Lafleur was hit by a car. Given the circumstances, Papa Tchutchu, gives up on being paid back. Titine has doubts, though – Gégène might have been mistaken. Blaise has also heard about Lafleur’s accident and cannot believe that he has really passed away. Him, Sandrine, Gégène and Paupaul reminisce about Lafleur and his banter. Lafleur comes back alive and enters the grieving house. He explains that it is not he who has been crushed, but old Marie’s flower. He is very angry with Gégène, who prefers to flee to avoid his kicks. Lafleur wants to know what has been said of him when it was thought he had passed away. Death enters. She, too, has heard that Lafleur had died. She comes to get him, but Lafleur kicks her away.