Felix Techno is the inventor of a time machine which he demonstrates to the audience. He gives Technikus, a robot, to his nephew Peter, but makes it malfunction to punish him for his poor performance at school and to see if Peter and his friend Kalle can control it. The deranged robot wreaks havoc on the city. Felix, who observes the events from the future, returns to take part in them under different disguises. When the robot continues its journey into space, Felix dons a spacesuit and brings it back to Earth. The inventor decides to give the robot to Kalle, who has managed to control it, because "technology belongs to the one who controls it".

Young audiences

Focke Gerd

Germany

Printed

Time travel

Physics

Dysfunction

Cosmic journey

Spoutnik

Learning

Diving suit

Television

Robot

Dinosaur

Music

Time

Disobedience

Radio

School

Technical

Comical

Parodistic

German

Eine utopische Märchenkomödie für einen Schauspieler und einige Puppen

Inventor

Physician

Vendeur de journaux

Schoolteacher

Police officer

Fireman

Astronaut

Und die halbe Weltgeschichte, von übermorgen bis zur Zeit der Dinosaurier (oder umgekehrt)

Scene in the dark

Address to the public

Surprise effect

Speeding up of time

Personified object

Disguised character (false identity)

Unexpected turn of events

Running gag

Argument

Instrumental tune

Spying scene

Commentary

Chase

Transformism

Peter und der Roboter

Peter et le robot

Polichinelle no longer wants to play traditional puppet shows. He aspires to be modern and leaves his puppeteer to become a television star. The puppeteer, who is committed to tradition, grieves for Polichinelle and continues his shows with other puppets. Polichinelle is criticized by the viewers and causes trouble for the television program. He asks for the puppeteer’s help. Eventually, he comes back to him.

Glove-puppet

Adults

France

Montpellier

Modernity

Tradition

Rupture

Whim

Stardom

Humorous

Satirical

Black comedy

Robert Destanque, Le Caprice de Polichinelle, 2003.

French

Polichinelle

Puppeteer

Landlord

Constable

Colombine

Arlecchino

Pierrot

Announcer

Television presenter (woman)

Speakerine

Voice

Dialogue between actor and puppet

Talking on the phone

Monologue

Screen on stage

Throws

Song

Word warping

Le Caprice de Polichinelle

Polichinelle's Whim

Pinocchio has grown old; he is 124 years old, and his nose has become as long as a mammoth's trunk. He spends his life watching television, until the blue-haired Fairy turns him into a piece of wood, as he was at the beginning of his story. Pinocchio has to start again and relive his journey: first he has to find his father Geppetto, to become a puppet again. Pinocchio sets out to find him in the ocean (Geppetto was last seen in the belly of a whale...), but in his quest, he meets only some very strange people: Lamereocéan, a man who waters a forest of noses, Captain Nocchio and Captain Pino, and others (Bout d’alu [Piece-of-aluminum], Bout de plastique [Piece-of-plastic],Cassette vidéo [Video-Cassette]...) who also claim to be called Pinocchio and who, unlike Bout de bois [Piece-of-wood], all manage to find their father. He keeps searching, but nobody can tell him where his father is. Moreover, every time he asks someone for help (each time unsuccessfully), he is forced to give a piece of his body: Bout de bois [Piece-of-wood] becomes smaller and smaller. In the end, Pinocchio doesn’t find his father, but he gets married to blue-haired Petite Télé [Little-Television].And together, they will continue searching...

Bare hand

Object theatre

All audiences

Cagnard Jean

Cannes

Burattini

Whale

Quest

Father

Old age

Symbolism

Absurd

Fantastic

Based on the tireless, timeless Pinocchio. Text for puppets.

Blue Fairy

Pinocchio

Banker

Donkey

Active stage directions

Deus ex machina

Accumulation of events

Change of age

Change of size on sight

Double characters

Splitting of the body

Animated natural element

Object coming to life

Iteration

Avista

Comedy of language

Disappearance

Fight

Wedding

Plot twist

Bout de bois

Bit of wood

A French journalist – François – is in a country at war to work on a report. He is welcomed by Malik – the leader of one of the camps, a collector of weapons and a fan of the Western consumer society and of the soap opera Santa Barbara. François also meets a sculptor monk, who happily guards the “cemetery of idiots”, and Marcel, a blind professor who philosophises about the fall of communism and the moral misery of humanity. François shows more and more aversion to the trade of journalism, which forces him to seek for the most gruesome news, and aversion also to humanity as a whole. The rats take an interest in this personal crisis: they are looking to communicate with him. Then the journalist meets the leader of the enemy camp, who happens to be Malik. For years, the militiamen have been fighting against themselves, playing the role of two enemy camps. The rats explain their inter-species cooperation project to François, the aim of which is to clean up the waste on Earth, and to purge humanity of its metaphysical stain. A world summit of good neighbourliness is organised in Luxembourg, to discuss the modalities of the alliance. But the rats are too visible and so the situation slowly deteriorates. The play ends with François’ burial in the “cemetery of idiots”.