Satan and the Anges rebelles (Rebel Angels) are trying to go back to heaven, but they are defeated and repelled into the abyss by the Archange Michel (Archangel Michael). The Verbe (Word; God) appears and creates the planets. In the underworld, the Anges rebelles are planning their revenge: they gather riches and have a palace built. Satan finds out that Dieu (God) is going to create l’Homme (Man) and he wants to cause his downfall. He manages to escape Hell and to go to the physical World. In the Terrestrial Paradise, Ève, tempted by Satan posing as a snake, convinces Adam to eat the Fruit from the Tree of knowledge. The two are driven out of Paradise. Carried to a mountain by an Ange (Angel), Adam sees the future in a dream—episodes from the Old Testament, the birth and death of Jesus, the Last Judgment. The last tableau shows the Almighty God on his throne.

Automaton

Not specified

Josse Pierre-Charles

France

Paris

Printed summary

Bible

Evil

Revolt

Fall

Creation of the world

Hell

Heaven

Temptation

Religious

L'Origine du monde et la chute du premier homme, 1763 (page 1)

French

Satan

Devil

Saint Michael

Angel

God (monotheism)

Beelzebub

Architect

Mammon

Death

Time

Dreams

Adam

Gabriel

Pharaoh

Solomon

Nabuchodonosor

Jesus

Allegory

Apparition

Fight

Avista

Flying machine

Disguised character (false identity)

Dream

L'Origine du monde et la chute du premier homme

The Origin of the world of the fall of the first man

The play begins with a council of Démons (Demons) during which Pluton (Pluto), furious that Antoine (Anthony) is diverting the souls of the Underworld with his prayers, orders the Démons to capture him, and promises a reward for the one who will succeed. Proserpine (Proserpina), his wife, asks for permission to go alone to seduce the hermit. Antoine recognises her immediately and resists her charms. Pluton then tries a different approach, and pretends to be a beggar caught in a storm. Exposed, he asks Antoine to surrender his soul to him, but the hermit reasserts his faith in God. The Démons then appear suddenly, drag Antoine in a hellish dance and set fire to the tail of his Cochon (Pig). They also destroy his hermitage and tell him that they will transform his faithful companion into a sausage. Antoine is exhausted and begs God, who sends down an Ange (Angel) to rebuild the chapel and turn Pluton into a basket of flowers. During the grand finale, Antoine rises to the sky followed by his Cochon.

String marionette

All audiences

Printed

Revenge

Monk

Seduction

Belief

Reward

Joke

Miracle

Comical

Fantasy

Pluto

Proserpina

Prime Minister

Demon

Sculptor monk

Song

Chorus

Apparition of demons

Change of head on sight

Dance

Demons dance

Thunderbolt

Off-stage voice

Apotheosis

Ascent to heaven

La Tentation de Saint-Antoine

The Temptation of Saint Anthony

The bishop Simplicius invites Chrysogonus, the nephew of the governor of Patras, for lunch. A gorgeous young woman, Luce, appears to him and asks for his protection: she has vowed to remain a virgin and fled from her father, who wanted to force her to marry. She is alone for a short while, and she reveals that she is Lucifer. Simplicius is flustered: he invites Luce to have lunch with them, and falls in love with her. He appeals to the apostle saint André (Saint Andrew) to stop him from giving in to temptation. Le Pauvre (Poor Man) appears and asks to have lunch with them. Luce agrees to let him, if he can answer three riddles. Le Pauvre answers and reveals that she is Lucifer, and that he is Saint André. While Lucifer disappears in Hell, Saint André sits down to eat with Simplicius and Chrysogonus.

Vegetarianism

Glutton

Charity

Lust

Devotion

Chastity

Virginity

Lyrical

Apostle

Bishop

Servant

Poor

Saint Andrew

Address to the public

Aside

Metamorphosis

Disguise

Engulfment

Change of voice

La Dévotion à saint André

The Devotion to Saint Andrew

Martin is a man who wins every game he plays. This evening, he is preparing for his greatest gamble yet: abandoning his lover Sophie in order to go to Homburg and seduce the scandalous courtesan Eleonora Lambriani. However, his cousin, the blustering soldier Cassian, visits him; soon, the tide turns. Sophie falls in love with Cassian, Martin starts to lose at dice and is then mortally wounded by his cousin in the ensuing fight. Cassian abandons Sophie to meet with Eleonora Lambriani. Sophie jumps out of the window, but Cassian follows her and miraculously saves her; they set off for Homburg. Martin finally dies, having lost everything…

Schnitzler Arthur

Austria

Vienna

Germany

Berlin

Visit

Unfaithfulness

Dice game

Journey

Loyalty in love

Sadness

Nostalgia

Encounter

Confession

Poverty

Luck

Deception

Battle story

Duel

Suicide attempt

Femme fatale

Burlesque

Parodistic

German

Der tapfere Kassian

Puppenspiel in einem Akt

Valet

Domestic scene

Argument

Plot twist

Love story

Naive character deceived

Teichoscopy

Der tapfere Cassian

The brave Cassian

Wandering in the forest, Kasperl finds refuge with a hermit, who wants to lead him to repent. The Devil plants a giant radish in Kasperl's path, a magical object that assures its owner that all his wishes will come true. Kasperl immediately orders six litres of beer from the radish, a dish of Leberknödel (liver dumplings) and cabbage, and a sofa to sleep off his drunkenness. The Devil then returns to damn him in the form of a prostitute who wants to lie down beside Kasperl; but he pushes her away violently, shouting that he is drunk and needs to sleep in peace. Then the sky opens up and angelic choirs sing him praises: Kasperl has triumphed over the devil and he receives a halo. Not knowing what to do with it, he leaves it with the hermit, who, in exchange, leads him out of the forest.

Glove-puppet

Blümel Otto

Gaienhofen

Repentance

Renunciation

Radish

Knödel

Beer

Couch

Aureola

Hermann Hesse

Farcical

Satirical

Hermit

Kasperl

Der Teufel in Gestalt eines buhlerischen Weibs

Prostitute

Voice

Versified passages

Apparition of the Devil

Apparition of an angel

Dialect

Der Klausner

The hermit

Three women – young Janet, her mother, and her grandmother – take refuge in a stable while a storm and the temptations of St. Anthony are raging outside. Janet asks in vain to be explained what these temptations are. Saint Anthony (called Anthony Perkins) is in a cell and only has his Halo, his Clock, and his Calendar as friends. He prays to Zeus to send him temptations, for they never reach him. Time flies, and he ends up dying of boredom. Shortly after Anthony’s death, the now old Queen of Sheba enters his cell, accompanied by Gustave Flaubert. The Queen of Sheba dies, disappointed that she could not tempt Anthony. Flaubert asks two eunuchs to bury them. Cleo di Patra appears in the sky, surrounded by angels. The play ends with a great ballet and a funeral cortege.