Polichinelle wants to be loved while he is dressed as the shepherd Philemon, but is rejected by Issé. Doris accepts Pan's love for a while. Hylas is in turn rejected by Issé. Issé questions the oracle of the oaks of Dodona who tells her that she will fall in love with the god of light. Issé refuses because she prefers Polichinelle. Polichinelle reveals himself to her as Apollo.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

France

Paris

Manuscript with songs and dialogue summaries

Oracle

God disguised as a mortal

Greek mythology

Shepherd

Unrequited love

Seduction

Rivalry in love

Parodistic

French

Polichinelle

Philémon

Mother Gigogne

Doris

The Interpreter

Pierrot

Hylas

Priest

Peasant (female)

Apollo

Misunderstanding

Unveiling

Spectacular turn of events

Ballet

Song

Dialogue with a character in the audience

Apollon Polichinelle

Apollo as Polichinelle

Jason lands in Colchis with Teseu (Theseus) and an armed escort; he seeks to obtain the Golden Fleece. As he admires the King’s beautiful daughter, Medeia (Medea), and her cousin Creúsa, his servant Sacatrapo is coveting Arpia, Medeia’s servant. Sacatrapo, hidden inside a sideboard, overhears Medeia declaring her love for Jason to her servant. Jason promises to marry Medeia if she helps him find the Golden Fleece. But he is in love with Creúsa: he declares his love to his servant and entrusts him with inquiring into the young woman’s feelings. The King is sceptical about the motifs of Jason’s coming and asks Medeia to find out about his true intentions. Because Jason urges her to, Medeia carries him on a cloud to the enchanted garden. On Pegasus’s back, Jason enters the garden, where he fights against a fire-breathing dragon; laid down, the dragon disappears into flames. Medeia summons Sacatrapo thanks to a dragon who spits the servant out of its month. Casting her spells, she makes the flowers of the garden move and transforms them into nymphs (which Sacatrapo sees as donkeys). Jason confirms again that he loves Medeia, even though he is thinking about Creúsa. Jason is preparing to flee with Teseu and asks Sacatrapo to go fetch Creúsa. The servant tells the King that Jason stole the Golden Fleece from him. Medeia, abandoned, confides in Creúsa. The young women order Jason to explain himself. The King asks Medeia to vouch for Jason; she agrees. Sacatrapo meets Medeia: mistaking her for Creúsa during a night scene, he reveals that Jason is unfaithful. Furious, Medeia buries him slowly to feed the dragons with him, and replaces his head with a donkey’s. He must look for his head in the depths. Arpia fools Sacatrapo by promising that he will discover a donkey with golden droppings; this donkey is said to be kept by an ant. Sacatrapo is determined to kill the ant and steal the donkey using the hat given by Arpia, which should make him invisible. Medeia walks in on Creúsa and Jason during a romantic duo scene; she buries her rival inside a mountain. The King begins a war against the Argonauts: Sacatrapo arrives with a rag on his head and believes that he is invisible. He and Jason are taken prisoners. Riding a chariot drawn by dragons, Medeia divides the armies with a river. The King disowns his daughter, as she raises a tower from which she defies him. While Sacatrapo believes that he has found a treasure, snakes come out of the chest he is dragging: he has once again been fooled by Arpia. Creúsa and Jason flee during a night scene, but Medeia unleashes the winds, leading to a storm scene, so that they are forced to go back to Colchis. The King pardons Jason, offers him to marry Creúsa and promises to kill Medeia, who escapes on a cloud.

Giant marionette

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Printed

Magic

Dragon

Golden Fleece

Theft

Treason

Love

Mock-heroic

Lyrical

Fantasy

Farcical

Summary of the play Os Encantos de Medeia (edition of 1759)

Portuguese

Jason

Theseus

Prince

Nephew

King

General

Medea

Princess

Creusa

Niece

Maid

Servant

Guard

Soldier

Choir

Enchantment

Set that comes to life

Avista

Metamorphosis

Flying machine

Love rivalry

Clouds

Fighting a monster

Animalised character

Night scene

Stormy scene

Shipwreck scene

Animated natural element

Battlefield scene

Battle against a sorcerer

Entering with vehicle

Splitting of the body

Headbutt

Spying scene

Thunderbolt

Apotheosis

Final wedding

Dancing entertainment

Music

Os Encantos de Medeia

Medea's Spells

Méduse (Medusa) petrified most of the king Céphée’s (Cepheus) subjects. Mérope, the sister of the queen Cassiope (Cassiopeia), is in love with Persée (Perseus), but she must compete with her niece Andromède (Andromeda), who rejects the advances of her uncle Phinée (Phineus). At Cassiope’s request, everyone prays to Juno, but the latter shows them anger in return. Céphée and Cassiope tell Phinée that his rival Persée promised to cut Méduse’s head. Andromède tells Persée that she must marry Phinée, while she simultaneously confesses her love to him. Mercure (Mercury) appears and tells Persée that Jupiter will help him by giving him magical weapons. Mercure puts Méduse to sleep so that Persée can cut her head. Idas tells Céphée and Cassiope that their daughter Andromède must be given to a monster. As Persée is setting her free, Phinée kills Mérope, then searches for Andromède: he wants to kill her too but Méduse’s head, brandished by Persée, petrifies him.

Carolet Denis

Manuscript

Monster

Incest

Sacrifice

Comical

Polichinelle Persée, manuscript, Soleinne collection, Bibliothèque nationale de France (Ms FF 9313)

Perseus

Cepheus

Phinée

Scaramouche

Cassiopeia

Andromeda

Mercury

Medusa

Love story

Apparition of a god

Aria

Monologue

Polichinelle Persée

Polichinelle Perseus

Luigi Gambara and Maria da Brescia are happily married. The villain Alvise takes advantage of Luigi’s absence to try and seduce Maria. Faggiolino, the servant in Luigi’s house, notices the situation, and when Luigi comes back, he warns him. Luigi discovers Alvise in his wife Maria’s bedroom as he is talking to her about love. Alvise challenges him to a duel, but he is wounded and flees, promising to take revenge. After making sure of Maria’s innocence, Luigi decides to take her far away from Brescia, so that she can find protection in Venice. Alvise gets ahead of them and goes to meet the Inquisitor to accuse Luigi of wanting to commit an attack against the Venetian Republic. Luigi is imprisoned and sentenced to death, but his servant Faggiolino provides him with the necessary money to bribe the guard Brighella; he then waits for him in a gondola under the Bridge of Sighs to help him escape. Luigi takes revenge on Alvise and kills him. As he is about to kill Maria, his daughter arrives and prevents him from doing so.

Glove-puppet

Italy

Bologna

Printed summary

Lust

Duel

Venice

Revenge

Dramatic

Italian

Luigi Gambara

Fagiolino

Meneghino

Brighella

Balanzone

Deceived naivety

Trap

Running away

Murder on stage

Duel scene

Court scene

Seduction scene

Domestic scene

Arrest scene

Maria la bresciana e Luigi Gambara con Faggiolino detto il bravo della Lombardia

Maria the Brescian and Luigi Gambara with Faggiolino known as the brave of Lombardy

The play is set in Cannes in 1871. Madame Palmer, her daughter Miss Kate (both Americans), Monsieur Balandard and his nephew Arthur, a young painter, are staying in a hotel. The young painter is in love with Miss Kate and paints her portrait. However, Miss Kate does not recognise herself in the painting and suggests, in Arthur’s face, that he find a “real” job. The young man is hurt: he draws a caricature of Miss Kate’s silhouette and complains to his uncle – Monsieur Balandard. Meanwhile, Madame Palmer organises an occult ritual with her daughter to find out the name of the daughter’s future husband. Cléophée, Madame Palmer’s occult “friend”, writes the name “Bal…”. From that moment on, Madame Palmer tries to arrange a marriage between her daughter and Monsieur Balandard. However, the uncle decides to help his nephew. To do so, he organises a fake occult ritual and hides Arthur inside a speaking bubble. In the end, the farce is revealed and faith in occultism is shattered.

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

Nohant

Casino

Hotel

Bourgeoisie

Painter

Arranged marriage

Spirits

Occultism

Satirical

Eugène Lambert, George Sand, Maurice Sand : puppet of Arthur Dupinceau.

L'Oncle et le neveu

Balandard

Young man

Innkeeper

Constable

American

Woman of the bourgeoisie

Young woman

Aside

Situation comedy

Invocation of the spirits of the dead

Plot twist

Les Esprits frappeurs

The Spirits that strike

The Nain jaune (yellow dwarf) wants to marry Fleur de Bois, a princess, but she turns him down. To avenge himself, the Nain, with the help of Satan, puts the king, the princess and everyone in the palace to sleep, and he promises to come back in a year. Yvon, a young man described as “not very rich but lazy”, begs a Prêtre (Priest) for money. The Prêtre turns into a genie and gives him an enchanted sword so he can save the princess. He and his servant fight the Nain, the Géant Romular (Giant Romular) and Satan, and enter the castle. Once inside the castle, Yvon cuts the king’s beard with the sword to deliver him from the sleeping spell. When the king wakes up, he gives Yvon his daughter Fleur de Bois as a wife.

String marionette

Lille

Handwritten outline

Devil

Sleep

Wedding

Genie

Magic object

Sword

Beard

Domestic servant

Satan

Dwarf

Knight

Black Man

Snake

Giant

Improvised dialogue

Apparition of a genie

Apparition of the Devil

Fight

Yvon, ou la Barbe d'Acier

Yvon, or the Iron Beard

Smeraldina and Facanapa, two servants in love, argue because Facanapa is jealous when Smeraldina pays attention to her appearance. She tells him that she is doing this for him, and also to obtain tips that allow her to pay for certain things. Pantalone, Smeraldina’s employer, asks her if she intends to marry Facanapa (who is a genuinely good guy), so that his wife no longer suspects their relationship. Facanapa comes back and says that the cellar has been flooded because he opened the barrels. Pantalone kicks him, and, angry, decides that Smeraldina will marry the shopkeeper Arlecchino. Meanwhile, Arlecchino asks Tartaglia for his daughter Rosaura’s hand, but she wants to marry Florindo and so rejects his advances. A discomfited Arlecchino leaves and encounters Pantalone who offers for him to marry Smeraldina. Facanapa hides from Pantalone in a tree, and overhears the conversation. Smeraldina agrees to marry Arlecchino, and Facanapa, very angry, wants to hang himself. Smeraldina saves him; Pantalone agrees to their wedding and even provides a dowry. Once again, Arlecchino ends up without a wife.

Apollon Polichinelle

Os Encantos de Medeia

Polichinelle Persée

Maria la bresciana e Luigi Gambara con Faggiolino detto il bravo della Lombardia

Les Esprits frappeurs

Yvon, ou la Barbe d'Acier

Il matrimonio di Facanapa

Noa

Une conversation marionnettique en style "snap-shot"

Dal Catai a Parigi

Angelica alla corte di Re Carlo

Sous le masque tu es mortel pauvre orphelin !

Fable théâtrale pour comédiens et marionnettes