Don Juan witnesses Donna Amarilles' declaration of love to Don Philippo and decides to get to the meeting place before his rival. Through the intervention of his servant Hans Wurst, he asks his father Don Alfaro for ten thousand thalers. The latter has two coins given to them, so that they can both buy ropes to hang themselves. Don Juan beats his father and robs him. He tries to abduct Donna Amarilles but he is caught by her father, Don Pedro, and kills him. The boat Don Juan and Hans Wurst flee on sinks but they both survive and find shelter with a hermit in the woods. Don Juan is disguised – he is wearing the hermit’s trousers – and kills Don Philippo who was chasing him. He then tries to rape a shepherdess and a princess he met in the woods. He kills the princess because she was fighting him. Don Juan and Hans Wurst finally reach the cemetery where Don Pedro’s equestrian statue stands, and they invite him over for dinner. The statue agrees, but in the end, Don Juan will go to it for a midnight feast in the cemetery. Don Pedro urges him to do penance, but he refuses and is damned. He then repents for his sins. An angel offers him forgiveness for his sins. He does not think he is worthy of it and is carried away by Furies from the Underworld. As for Hans Wurst, he drives out two devils who offered him a similar dinner.

Not specified

France

Strasbourg

Printed

Seducer

Unwelcome seducer

Assassination

Servant

Valet

Murder

Serial murder

Phantom

Revenant

Religion

Morality

Abduction

Kidnapping

Fish

Leviathan

Jonas

Forest

Cemetery

Didactic

German

Straßburger Don Juan-Puppenspiel

Don Alfaro

Don Juan

Don Pietro

Donna Marillis

Don Filippo

Sheperherdess

Hermit

Hanswurst

Angel

Ghost

Devil

Apparition

Flying machine

Final intervention of the devil

Disguise

Word for another

Dialogue between characters who do not see each other

Murder on stage

Bawdy equivocation

Light effects

Don Juan oder der Steinerne Gast

Don Juan or the Stone Guest

Momus, the god of mockery, arrives on Pegasus’s back at the grave of the puppeteer Brioché. Jupiter gave him the power to resuscitate the dead, and he chose Brioché, who thus comes back to life; Momus instructs him to open a theatre. Polichinelle comes out of an old tree; then Pierrot and Arlequin appear. The latter asks Momus to also bring Colombine back to life; she is followed by Beau Léandre, Isabelle and Cassandre. After lauding the puppets, they try to decide on the repertoire they will put on and they introduce the troupe of actors that will perform the pantomimes.

Rod and string marionette

Martainville Alphonse

Paris

Death

Resurrection

Laughter

Commedia dell'arte

Past

Comical

Satirical

Martainville, La Résurrection de Brioché, 1810 (title page)

French

Momus

Brioché

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Arlecchino

Colombine

Isabelle

Léandre

Cassandre

Aria

Metamorphosis

Lazzi

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Criticism of actors' theatre

La Résurrection de Brioché

Brioché's Resurrection

Doctor Sassafras is pleased to have a client as hypochondriac as Steinreich. This rich and selfish man forbids his niece Marie from continuing to see his secretary Schreiber, whom he dismisses. Steinreich envisions a more beneficial match for his niece. Doctor Sassafras makes a deal with the devil to summon Death. Schreiber then attempts suicide, but a gravedigger saves him, as Death is detained in Sassafras’ enchanted chair. The Devil realises that his pact with Sassafras is detrimental to him and breaks their contract. Death comes fetch the doctor, who turns to God and hopes for His mercy. In the meantime, Steinreich converted: he has become charitable and, most importantly, no longer opposes Marie and Schreiber’s union.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Medicine

Knödel

Usurpation

Drink

Surgery

Prestige

Wealth

Champagne

Misery

Forced marriage

Hypochondria

Vanity

Faust

Bible

Suicide

Sentimentalism

Farcical

Pathetic

Burlesque

Title page in the original edition of Pocci's comedies

oder Doctor, Tod und Teufel

Doctor

Kasperl

Secretary

Peasant (man)

Domestic servant

Gravedigger

Parody of formal language

Dialect as a social marker

Versified passages

Allegory

Pact with the devil

Song

Monologue

Off-stage voice

Philosophical dialogue

Final wedding

Doctor Sassafras

A young alchemist, Émile, and his assistant Guignol are preparing for their final experiment—to create a man. Instead of a man, however, a Monstre (Monster) rises out of the cauldron, scaring the two men as well as Émile’s fiancée, Amélie, the daughter of Baron de Valbreuze. Émile and Guignol go to a cemetery, where they are advised by a Squelette (Skeleton) to question an old Alchimiste (Alchemist), who can teach them how to get rid of the Monstre. The Monstre is devoured by ghosts and disappears. Guignol and Émile go back to the Baron and to his daughter, and the young couple signs a marriage contract.

Glove-puppet

Vuillerme-Dunand Victor-Napoléon

Manuscript

Alchemy

Monster

Double

Wedding

Fantastic

Le Monstre et l'alchimiste, censorship archives (first page of the text)

Le Monstre et l'alchimiste

Alchemist

Guignol

Skeleton

Undead

Comedy of language

Aside

Pyrotechnics

Explosion

Apparition of a monster

False exit

Comical fall of a character

Fainting

Magical disappearance

Chase

Dead talking character

Apparition of a ghost

Final song

The Alchemist

A poor old man dreams of marrying Mademoiselle de Bilaingre, while lamenting his age, which prevents him from doing so. Satan appears and offers to grant him all his wishes: to replace his old shack with a castle, to marry the young girl, and to live in the ‘brilliant costume of Count Maurice de Maltinguène’, who died in a duel a year earlier. However, there is one condition: every year, the old man must marry a new young girl, stab her the day after the wedding, drink her blood, and send her body to Satan. After a moment's hesitation, the old man gives in and signs the pact. Jules, the nephew of the Count of Bilaingre, returns from his studies to claim his cousin's promised hand in marriage. But he discovers that she has now been promised to another. Jules asks for the name of his rival and learns that it is Count Maurice de Maltinguène, which he knows to be impossible: he himself witnessed the duel in which the count was killed. The Count of Bilaingre then suggests that he stay to meet this rival. At the chapel, Julia refuses the marriage proposal in front of everyone. Later, Jules and Guignol hide there. When Count Maurice de Maltinguène draws his sword to kill Julia, Jules and Guignol rush in to save her. While Guignol accompanies Julia, Jules challenges the count to a duel and kills him. However, the count is resurrected, but in order to survive, he must kill the young girl before two o'clock in the morning. Two devils bring Julia before the count, but he perishes, having exceeded the time allotted to him. The Count of Bilaingre thanks Jules and promises him his daughter's hand in marriage.

Tuchan

Old age

Love

Eternal youth

Curse

Blackmail

Vampire

Prophetic dream

Promise

Wedding prevented

Revenge

Duel

Dramatic

Count

Satan

Cousin

Old man

Daughter

Young woman

Chambermaid

Spectre

Demon

Apparition of the Devil

Music

Change of age

Change of social status

Disguised character (false identity)

Avista

Apparition of an angel

Chorus

Hidden character

Death on stage

Le Vampire ou le buveur de sang

The Vampire or the Blood Drinker

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”.