Rugantino comes back from a long journey and finds his home filled with Pulcinelletti (small Pulcinellas). He asks his wife where these come from, but she replies that they are their own children. Rugantino goes and sees a judge, who asks him to imagine that he owns a field and that a neighbour, crossing this field, lets wheat seeds fall on it: to whom does the wheat belong, he asks Rugantino? To me, since the field belongs to me, Rugantino answers. The judge then makes him observe that this also stands for his wife’s children. Rugantino goes back home, accepts to recognise the children, and the curtain falls as the Pulcinelletti all shout and call him “Daddy”.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Santangelo Gaetano (aka Ghetanaccio)

Italy

Rome

Printed excerpts

Unfaithfulness

Birth

Child

Farcical

Italian

Rugantino

Rosetta

Baby

Pulcinellino

Imbroglio

[Rugantino e i Pulcinelletti]

Rugantino and the small Pulcinellas

Pulcinella and Rosetta are husband and wife; they quarrel about love and money. Rosetta then meets a man of a certain age, Cassandrino; he tries to seduce her while she thinks he only wants to take her on for a sewing job. Cassandrino mistakes Pulcinella for Rosetta’s father and asks him if he can marry her. Pulcinella plays along with the situation and makes a fool of him by always talking about his daughter Malvinuccia, who is four years old, instead of Rosetta; indeed, Cassandrino does not know the name of the woman to whom he just spoke. Pulcinella settles on a very high price for the sewing job and agrees to let Cassandrino marry his daughter in return. Pulcinella is thrilled at having duped the old man and relates the story to his brother-in-law Rugantino. The latter takes the matter into his own hands: he asks Cassandrino to make a written commitment and begins to negotiate with him. Cassandrino wants to know how long all of this will take, because he is in a hurry and wants to atone for a failed marriage at the end of which his future wife left with a friend. After making repeated threats, Rugantino manages to turn down all his demands; he even gets money to buy a drink. Rugantino calls Pulcinella, who is sleeping, and tells him that the agreement is ready. However, Cassandro wants to see his fiancée Malvinuccia. Pulcinella then calls the children and the young Malvinuccia greets Cassandro merrily, as though he were her grandfather. The man says that there has been a misunderstanding and that he wants Rosetta. Thus, they go fetch her while she is nursing another child. She arrives and the misunderstanding is cleared: she is already Pulcinella’s wife. Rugantino still demands that the contract be honoured. They therefore decide that Cassandro will pay for dinner and wine for everyone, and the latter asks that they all go to Zagarolo (a village near Rome) to relate all that has happened and turn it into a theatre play.

All audiences

Giraud Giovanni

Printed

Poverty

Wedding

Contract

Money

Comical

Giovanni Giraud, Opere edite ed inedite, 1841

Old man

Cassandrino

Cassandre

Husband

Pulcinella

Wife

Young girl

Argument

Misunderstanding

Situation comedy

Naive character deceived

Malvinuccia ossia La bambina di quattro anni

Malvinuccia, or the four-year-old girl

Polichinelle has married the rich mother Gigogne, but he beats her children or gives them away in payment of his own debts. Grigogne complains to his cousin Niflanguille and gives him his bag of money. Polichinelle takes it to buy a horse. But the Maquignon sells him a dangerous horse and steals the money bag. Niflanguille accuses Polichinelle of the theft; mother Gigogne wants to beat her husband, but it is Niflanguille who gets the blows. Gigogne promises her husband more money if he behaves like a father to his children. But as soon as a child refuses to eat, Polichinelle kills him and throws him out of the window. Gigogne wants to punish Polichinelle, so he kills her, Niflanguille and a magician. The surviving children attack Polichinelle who chases them away. The Devil arrives and takes Polichinelle away.

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Marrying for money

Debt

Theft

Horse

Bad father

Bad husband

Large family

French

Polichinelle

Mother Gigogne

Niflanguille

Marchand de chevaux

Pork butcher

Arlecchino

Magician

Baby doll

Devil

Animal

Blow-with-a-stick

Lazzi

Running gag

Final intervention of the devil

Character thrown out of the scene

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

Polichinelle et la Mère Gigogne

Polichinelle and Mother Grignon

The Bonhomme Janvier (January Man), who came all the way from the infinity of space to Earth on New Year’s day, is welcomed by Pierrot. It is his first visit since the capture of Carthage, and he notices a lot of changes. Later, Pierrot’s clever uncle Gorgibus arrives. He talks to the Bonhomme Janvier with a lot of irony and contempt. He tries to hit him with a stick but fails: Janvier uses a magic trick and Gorgibus ends up frozen for the eight first days of the year. Shortly after, two children, Arlequin and Léandre, arrive. Pierrot and the Bonhomme Janvier make themselves invisible to listen to their conversation. The two boys complain about the useless and outmoded presents they were given. Pierrot and the Bonhomme Janvier reappear at this very moment. Janvier decides to take back all their presents to teach them a lesson. Paulin, Jacques Labor’s son, arrives. Invisible again, Pierrot and the Bonhomme Janvier listen to him talk about New Year. Unlike the others, Paulin expresses hope and enthusiasm regarding the year to come; the Bonhomme Janvier is surprised. Paulin’s father joins him and shares the same thoughts. Touched by the wisdom of the child, the Bonhomme Janvier promises to reward him. As for the other children, he decides to cancel their presents for the following year.

Young audiences

des Essarts Emmanuel

Party

Gift

Magic

Invisible

Revenge

Fantasy

Edifying

Alfred des Essarts, illustration for Le Bonhomme Janvier, 1863.

Father Christmas

Pierrot

Savant

Artist

Aside

Invisible character

Magical formula

Le Bonhomme Janvier

The January Man

Petit-Paul complains about adults and his teacher to his Pantin (Jumping Jack). He would rather play and not learn. However, the Pantin refuses to play with him as long as he has not done his homework; he explains that, without any learning, he will end up as the jumping jack amongst the adults. Petit-Paul is affected by these words and starts working diligently.

Jumping Jack

Game

Education

Lesson

Emmanuel des Essarts, illustration for Petit-Paul et son pantin, 1863

Pantin

Personified object

Petit-Paul et son Pantin

Petit-Paul and his Jumping Jack

Térésa speaks soft and tender words to her child, showing how much love she has for them. However, Fabio, her lover, is knocking on the door. He asks her to join him to talk in private, but Térésa tries to resist. She soon gives in to his supplications and leaves with Fabio, abandoning her child.

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Mother

Child abandonment

Lover

Dramatic

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, I Pupazzi. Front cover of the first edition, 1866.

Servant

Lover (man)

Un drame à enfant

Drama with a child

M. Prudhomme and Madame Benoiton are impatiently expecting the birth of their first grandson. As soon as he is born, they start arguing about his future career: will he be a Zouave, a liberal writer, a manufacturer, a magistrate, a musician, a farmer or a poet? Every suggestion leads to criticism, showing their different opinions and prejudices about each job. However, the lively discussion does not come to a conclusion, and the issue of the grandson’s future remains open.

Lille

Debate

Bourgeoisie

Lemercier de Neuville, illustration for Le Petit-fils de M. Prudhomme, 1868.

Grand-father

Monsieur Prudhomme

Grandmother

Off-stage voice

Sung scenes

Le Petit-fils de M. Prudhomme

M. Prudhomme’s Grandson

A child escapes the war in Spain on a globe. He reaches the clouds and, soon enough, the sky. He means to relate outside Earth what is happening in his country, and to ask for help so that democracy and freedom, which are being threatened, prevail in Europe. He starts a conversation with the stars, which are aware of the state of things, then with an angel, a small planet and a joyful and friendly demon. Together, they summon the stars, armies of angel warriors and legions of demons to protect the world against the evil which is tearing Spain and Europe apart.

Angel

Star

Activist theatre

Agit-prop

Spain

Teatro de Urgencia

Spanish

Flying machine

Las Barandillas del cielo

The Balustrade in the sky

One day, little Agustí decides to grow a tree and plants a seed. But another child, Fidel, swaps the seed with another and the resulting tree produces a very special fruit: it contains the genie Eugeni, who punishes Fidel by beating him with a stick. Fidel asks for forgiveness and the genie throws confetti and sweets to the audience.

Lanuza Empar de

Valencia

Tree

Ecology

Environment

Tale

Seed

Candy

Theatre at school

Mean trick

Punishment

Didactic

Catalan

Genie

Apparition of a genie

Un arbre genial

An amazing tree

On an abandoned lot, Joe talks to his puppet. He cannot bring himself to abandon it and so concludes that he must kill it. He then hits it several times with a brick. At home, his mother is most evidently drunk. She indicates a house and forces him to set it on fire. Joe then meets with his friends and lets them know what he is about to do. At that moment, Stranger, a child none of the other children knows, arrives, but he is soon driven off the lot. Joe’s friends make a deal: one by one, as the dummy is lying on the ground, they drop a brick on it and promise to keep Joe’s secret. The latter sets the house on fire. When he learns that a young boy has died in the fire, he decides to run off to Peterborough with his friends. Before they leave, a man faints before them. The children take care of him and carry him on a stretcher. Once on the road, the world seems to have turned into a wasteland. Some children begin to disappear. Some do not want to continue on carrying the man, although Joe refuses to abandon him. Others are accused of having gone to the police to tell on them. But then the man kills a child with a brick during the night. After the man murders Joe’s remaining friends, the latter is alone. Stranger comes back as a ghost and tells Joe that he has forgiven him. The man from the stretcher is in fact Stranger’s father, and he still wants to kill the child who caused the fire. The play ends with a very short scene, in which Joe says he is “the last person in the world”.