While fishing in a lake despite the prohibition, Casperl catches a crawfish, which tells him its story: it is actually called Zimbimbimperl and was transformed into a crawfish by her father, the magician Crocodilus, after a violent argument with her mother, the Egyptian fairy Persea. Persea travels the world to find her daughter, when she meets Casperl who informs her of Zimbimbimperl's fate. The gods of Egypt return her daughter to her, but demand that she sacrifices Casperl to them in return. In the meantime, Crocodilus has been captured and sold in a menagerie. But he manages to escape and takes refuge in the lake, surprising the reunion of mother and daughter. He wants to devour them, but Casperl intervenes and knocks him out. Crocodilus is calmed by the blow to the head. He has barely reconciled with his family when the owner of the Löwenmajer menagerie comes to claim him for his circus. Casperl kills him and declares the sacrifice to the gods complete. The play ends with a grand finale and an apotheosis of 'Casperl the Wise'.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Rail transport

Inflation

Fishing

Waste

Scatology

Egypt

Lost child

Menagerie

Magic

Forgiveness

Freemasonry

Oriental wisdom

Fantasy

Farcical

Parodistic

Satirical

German

Oder der Verzauberte Krebs

Fairy

Magician

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Miller

Tamer

Fish

Monologue

Talking animal

Brawl

Parody of formal language

Instrumental tune

Address to the public

Chorus

Metatheatre

Off-stage voice

Thunderbolt

Metamorphosis

Board

Transforming scenery

Crocodilus und Persea

Crocodilus and Persea

Guignol and his son Bobino are on the beach of Royan (on the Atlantic Coast). Bobino is bored and has finished his candy. When he throws the empty package on the beach, Guignol scolds him. He tells him about the recycling bins on the beach and explains what recycling is. When Guignol leaves to buy some groceries for Madelon, Gnafron arrives and offers to share his bottle with Bobino. Although Bobino initially refused, he finally accepts. But when he does, the bottle is empty, and Gnafron discards it on the beach. Bobino picks it up and puts it in the appropriate bin. He suggests that he and Gnafron clean the beach together, but Gnafron comes up with another idea: they should ask a magician. The magician happens to be the Devil. The Devil tells Bobino that the pieces of rubbish buried in the sand are valuable treasures he could sell. Bobino doubts it, but the Devil takes advantage of him. He puts up a board on which is written “the Beach Bazaar”. The owner of the Bazaar is Bobino. Then, the Devil hides backstage and talks through Bobino’s mouth when the first client – the Grosse Dame (the Big Lady) – comes. He quickly convinces her that what she is looking at is unique and precious: she buys it all for a thousand euros. When Bobino comes around, he tries to stop the Devil. But it is already too late – the Devil took the money and disappeared when he saw Guignol. The lady is proud of her purchase and flaunts it in front of Guignol. But Guignol wants to discard it all – thinking that it is rubbish she had picked while cleaning the beach. The lady is offended: she gathers her “treasures” and leaves. Guignol is dumbfounded, until he notices the board. He gets very angry at his son. However, when Bobino explains that Monsieur Lerouge is at the bottom of it and when he describes him, Guignol understands that he is talking about the Devil. He asks Bobino to call him. When the Devil appears, Guignol strikes him with his club and sends him back to Hell. The Grosse Dame realises that she has bought rubbish. Guignol reassures her and gives her back her money. Guignol and Bombino clean the beach together.

Glove-puppet

France

Bordeaux

Royan

Electronic text

Selective sorting

Beach

Environment

Didactic

Comical

French

Guignol et le tri sélectif

ou Les maléfices du Monsieur Lerouge

Guignol

Father

Guignol’s son

Gnafron

Devil

Lady

Apparition of the Devil

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Voice of possession

Song

Guignol à la plage

Guignol at the beach

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”.