While all poor people on the outskirts of Munich deposit their savings in Adele Spitzeder's bank, sometimes even selling their businesses to live on their income, Kasperl is looking for a job. Through his brother Baldhauser (also known as Baldes), a door-to-door salesman, he was placed as a doorman at Adele Spitzeder's house. He introduces the bank's customers to the bank office, where she receives them with her proverbial frankness. But at the end of his first day on the job, the police come and arrest the banker for fraud and close the place down: Kasperl beats down the poor people who come to claim their money. The fourth act or epilogue is a picture of country life: following a quarrel with his wife, Kasperl's other brother, Melchior, goes drinking with the town crier. Kasperl and Baldes enter the stage to conclude the play with a song.

String marionette

Not specified

Gailler Gabriel

Germany

Munich

Printed

Scandal

Stock exchange

Bank

Embezzlement

Swindling

Money

Bavaria

Beer

Politics

Society

Peasantry

Popular class

People

Poverty

Misery

Bankruptcy

Satirical

Comical

German

Marionettenspiel um einen Münchner Finanzskandal im Jahre 1873

Waiter

Peasant

Shepherd

Police officer

Employé municipal

Kasperl

Flying machine

Spectacular turn of events

Inn scene

Catastrophe

Conversation

Political allegory

Slang

Argument

Dialect as a social marker

Caricature

Brawl

Adele Spitzeder

A runaway slave meets a dragon which threatens to breathe fire on him; he asks the dragon whether it has the sultan’s permission to do so, predicting that the dragon will eat his former master before the guard kills it. But things do not turn out exactly as expected. Right before the audience, the dragon meets a knight who wants the sultan to recognise his superiority to become a knight too. The sultan refuses to talk, appointing the dragon to speak in his stead and authorising him to breathe fire on the knight. The slave returns in order to sit on the throne that he thinks empty – and it is indeed soon to be the case, because the sultan suddenly decides to follow in the deceased knight’s footsteps and take his place. Meanwhile, the fat Katja, who was dancing and singing for the sultan, has moved in with the dragon, and everyone is invited for coffee.

Young audiences

Fühmann Franz

Märkisch Buchholz

Tyranny

Slave

Emancipation

Animals, Mythical

Reign

Despotism

Turkey

Forecast

Discussions

Tolerance

Vocation

Coffee

Slogan

Civism

Love

Couple

Black

Humorous

Fantasy

Wie wird man Oberdiskutierer

Magician

Fat lady

Dragon

Sultan

Knight

Intervention of the audience

Imbroglio

Talking animal

Song

Object coming to life

Prologue

Address to the public

Personification

Optional scene

Dialogue of the deaf

Improvised scene

Der glückliche Ritter von Trinitat

The happy Knight of Trinitat

Princess Dana of Gurkistan is kidnapped and sequestered by the sorcerer Khalakuck and she must prepare him eight noodle dishes a day and clean his nose every morning. But after a year, the magician gives her a choice: either to marry him or be devoured! At this moment she discovers that the rocking horse that was in her room is none other than Prince Schaukelpferd from Spielzeugland transformed into a toy. With the help of Tziptzap, a magic tit (bird), they manage to escape from their prison, flying on Schaukelpferd’s back, which has grown wings during the night. But they are caught by Khalakuck. The prince knows that he only has three and a half metamorphoses left to win the final battle against the sorcerer. The tale ends with a triple wedding: the prince with the princess, the market gardener with the policeman, and Kasperl with Grete. The last couple was indeed already married, but marriage, according to Kasperl, is something you can never do too often.

Berlin

Fairy play

Tale

Magic

Wonderland

German Democratic Republic (GDR)

Socialism

Freedom

Jail

Bird

Animal

Childhood

Sexuality

Chickadee

Sorcery

Pickle

Children's game

Horse

Bans

Shortage

Economy

Majority

Adult

Castle

Market

Educational methods

Prince

Die Spucke in der Bütte auf der Schwelle

Policeman

Madame Kasperl

Metamorphosis

Magic act

Scene of recognition

Bawdy equivocation

Love story

Running away

Chase

Confinement

Das Spiel von der glücklichen Flucht des Prinzen Schaukelpferd vom Spielzeugland mit der Prinzessin Dana von Gurkistan aus der Burg des bösen Zauberers Khalakuck

The play about the happy escape of Prince Rocking Horse of Toyland with Princess Dana of Gurkistan from the castle of the evil sorcerer Khalakuck