Polichinelle and Pierrot, the survivors of a shipwreck which separated them from their troupe of comedians (made up in fact of other puppets), land on the Île des Fées (Isle of the Fairies). They are welcomed by a benevolent Fée (Fairy) who promises to help them: a Géant (Giant) will take them to Paris, where they are expected in their theatre. While Polichinelle runs to store wine in a cool place, Pierrot meets the Géant; he confirms that he is going to help them. The Fée makes a sumptuous feast appear for Pierrot, who is starving; she also introduces him to a young girl who wants to marry him. The Géant comes back to take Polichinelle, Pierrot and his new wife, and the whole troupe of puppets to Paris.

Not specified

France

Paris

Manuscript

Fairy play

Giant

Journey

Shipwreck

Hunger

Wedding

Rivalry of theatres

Fantasy

Comical

Parodistic

French

ou Le Géant aux marionnettes

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Fairy

Mother Gigogne

Young woman

Pantaloon

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Sung scenes

Versified passages

Apparition

Final song

L'Ile des fées

The Isle of the fairies

Cassandro, a merchant of about fifty years old, is in need of money: he has finally decided to marry, partly to benefit from his wife’s dowry. He must go from Rome to Albano for this wedding with a woman whom he does not know. He leaves with Rocco, his apprentice, on a donkey. On the way, Cassandro stops at a famous inn in which many Romans meet, eat, drink and sing some sorts of stornelli in verse. Cassandro and Rocco then set out again to meet the bride. A storm breaks out during the trip: the donkey stumbles, Cassandro falls, and Rocco and the innkeeper who has come to help him both think that he is dead. While the two men are busy taking care of the donkey, Cassandro comes round; but he pretends to be dead to see what will happen. The fiancée arrives with her brother and mother. They also believe that Cassandro is dead, but they need to pretend that he is alive to make him sign the marriage agreement and take his money. Thus, they drag the so-called corpse and arrange it so that it can be at the wedding and stand before the notary, whose sight is bad. They change the contract so that the two parties can fully enjoy the other’s possessions. However, Cassandro “comes back to life” when it is time to sign it. The wedding still happens: although the young bride is blind in one eye and not pretty, Cassandro reaps economic benefits from it and the bride’s parents must make the best of it. The friends from the inn join in the celebration.

All audiences

Giraud Giovanni

Italy

Rome

Printed

Death

Contract

Money

Giovanni Giraud, Opere edite e inedite, 1842.

Italian

Shopkeeper

Fiancé

Cassandre

Sister

Apprentice

Fiancée

Mother

Brother

Notary

Innkeeper

Coachman

Poet

Inn scene

Letter

Song

Music

Fall of a character

Fake death

Il viaggio sull'asino di Cassandro sposo

The trip on the donkey of Cassandro, husband

Two friends, Mooney and Spooney, meet. They had pulled a bad prank on the king and were fired for it. Thus, they decide to become stationmasters. Orlando has to take a train to Birmingham, which saddens his wife, Sophonisba. He reassures her by saying he will be home for dinner. They agree to eat mutton. Mooney and Spooney, now stationmasters, start singing instead of talking, as was required by Bradshaw. They meet Kaffir, a mysterious character who does not speak their language. According to Mooney, Kaffir wants to be a train driver. Mooney gives him the position. Mrs. Muddle reaches the platform. She wants to take the train to Birmingham and send a telegram from there. A two-legged Bradshaw’s Guide appears in front of Mooney and asks him in a loud voice why he is not singing. He adds that Spooney sings out of tune and that both of them must stop singing. Orlando, now at the train station, refuses to pay for his train ticket but is forced to do so by the stationmasters. He puts his luggage on the train and leaves to fetch the money. When he comes back an hour later, he learns that the train left with his luggage before the time given by the Bradshaw’s Guide. When the train heading to Birmingham pulls into the station, Spooney and Mooney go warn Mrs. Muddle, but she wants to take an omnibus over the train. She leaves, accusing them of wanting to trick her. When she comes back to pick up her things, she learns that the train left with them. Meanwhile, Sophonisba worries about her husband being late. Their cook, ruined the meal and offers to make an Irish stew instead. Orlando comes home and curses the Bradshaw because the trains do not leave according to the guide’s timetables. Bradshaw comes into play. He states that he took revenge and changed the train schedules because his order of singing was not respected.

Young audiences

Carroll Lewis

Great Britain

Croft-on-Tees

Train station

Revenge

Train times

Train

Humorous

Farcical

L. Carroll, La Guida di Bragia. The Lewis Carroll Society of North America, 1999.

English

Announcer

Stationmaster

Husband

Wife

Traveller

Cook

Situation comedy

Word warping

Personified object

Misunderstanding

La Guida di Bragia

Benjamin, a young man, asks his servant Crasmagne to leave with him, not as a servant but as a mentor and a friend. Crasmagne is unsure at first, but as he is promised a great sum of money, he accepts. Benjamin tells him to meet him at midnight in a park. In the park, a strongbox is hidden inside a detached house; it is filled with jewels that used to belong to Benjamin’s mother. Benjamin orders Crasmagne to fetch the strongbox. Faced with his master’s threats, the servant has no choice but to oblige. However, once in possession of the strongbox, Crasmagne hides it somewhere else and pretends not to have found it. Furious, Benjamin enters the detached house to retrieve it. Meanwhile, Crasmagne, who is standing outside, sees Monsieur Lésimond, Benjamin’s father. Remorseful, he tells him the whole truth. Shortly after, Benjamin comes out of the house with the strongbox in one hand and a gun in the other. His father curses him and leaves. Crasmagne and Benjamin go to the “Coq Plumé” (Plucked Rooster) hotel. Once there, they meet the hostess and Javotte, her servant. Benjamin leaves Casmagne without a meal, and goes to have fun. However, their vacation soon turns to chaos: after gambling, they are thrown out of the hotel almost naked and penniless. Famished and exhausted, they encounter a peasant who offers them a job: Crasmagne becomes a valet and Benjamin a pig-keeper. Crasmagne dines with the peasant, leaving Benjamin alone with his thoughts: an angel appears and suggests for him to go back to his father. Shortly after, Crasmagne comes back with some soup and learns of Benjamin’s decision to go back home. Once home, Benjamin is forgiven by his father.

String marionette

Servant

Relationship between father and son

Thief

Inheritance

Jewel

Curse

Game of chance

Bankruptcy

Misery

Return

Forgiveness

Edifying

Father

Young man

Domestic servant

Peasant (man)

Valet

Knight

Host

Aside

Off-stage noise

Off-stage voice

Apparition of an angel

Change of social status

L'Enfant prodigue

The Prodigal Child

Arriving in China after a failed emigration to America, Kasperl finds himself in the service of the Mandarin Quingquing, Emperor Schunschi's "Minister of Confused Affairs". While styling his master's pigtail for the audience, Kasperl gets annoyed at not understanding what Quingquing is saying in Chinese and slaps him to death. Kasperl disguises himself as a Mandarin and goes to the hearing in his place, where he argues with Schunschi. When Schunschi retires, he asks for a drink. A barrel is brought to him, but opening it is an actual Chinese puzzle. The ghost of Quingquing finally emerges. Kasperl knocks him out and then resolves to drink tea, promising himself to return to Germany without delay.

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Pigtail

Phantom

Despotism

Triviality

Minister

Barrel

Emigration

China

German

Kasperl

Emperor

Valet de chambre

Slave

Disguise

Monologue

Murder on stage

Macaronism

Hyperbolic action

Ridiculous fight

Talking at cross-purposes

Parody of formal language

Slaps

Kasperl in China

The fisherman's daughter Lisi and the young bird-catcher Wastl live by a lake in Germany. They offer hospitality to the painter Wilhelm, who has just returned from Italy. The short play ends with a song to nature and joy.

Fishing

Bird

Nature

Painting

Picturesque

Countryside

Birdcatcher

Bucolic

Forest

Wood

Happiness

Painter

Hospitality

Childhood

Lyrical

Allegory

Metatheatre

Am See

By the lake

Two families, the Gobards and the Courbemanches, are driving to visit the military camp in Saint-Maur. On the way, they notice an accident, which sparks their conversation. When they arrive, they meet a Zouave and start talking with him. Later, they go to the camp of the Turcos (African infantrymen) and meet the Tambour-major (Drum major). They are asked to go to dinner: everyone is there apart from Agathe, the servant. The voice of a man as well as laughter can be heard coming from the woods, which scares the family as they were about to start their meal. Agathe returns, but it starts raining and everyone ends up drenched, tired and starving. The Gobards and the Courbemanches call it a night and part ways. Agathe is the only one who seems to have enjoyed the trip.

Glove-puppet

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Family

Bourgeoisie

Army

Colonial troupe

Algeria

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, I Pupazzi. Front cover of the first edition, 1866.

Daughter

Soldier

Zouave

Rifleman

Aria

Comedy of language

Allusion to current political events

Comic distortion of language

Dinner scene

Amphigory

Le Camp de Saint-Maur

Saint-Maur Camp

The Emperor is moved by the sadness of Guerrino il Meschino, who learnt about his origins through the perfidious Brunoro: when he was an infant, some privateers took him away from his parents, who were left at the mercy of the waves. The Emperor convokes an Enchanter who reveals to Guerrino that he must go to the Trees of the Sun in order to find his parents. He leaves with his squires, Faggiolino and Giuppino. The journey is not easy and Guerrino has to overcome many obstacles, such as the encounter with a cannibal whom he manages to kill. Once he has arrived at the Trees of the Sun, Guerrino manages to communicate with the Oracle of the Sun, whose voice tells him about his noble origins and explains that, in order to find his parents, who are still alive, he needs to head west. Guerrino and his squires are helped by the Solitario (“Solitary”), who tells them to find the fairy Alcina. There, Guerrino risks being caught in her net: Alcina does everything she can to seduce him and make him stay forever in her enchanted garden. But Guerrino comes back to his senses, threatens her with his sword, and she transforms into a statue. Alcina’s statue reveals that Guerrino’s parents are living in prison, in a state of famine. Guerrino resumes his journey and finally arrives at Taranto, where he helps his cousin Antinisca, Queen of Taranto, fight the villainous Saracen prince, Nadar. It is he who has usurped the throne of Durazzo, stealing it from Milone, Guerrino’s father, and who has separated the prince from his parents. Antinisca and Guerrino fall in love. The Queen gives Guerrino permission to search Taranto’s prisons for his parents, and to free them if he finds them, which he does. When Nadar learns about it, he abducts Guerrino’s parents again. Guerrino, with the help of his friend Alessandro, attacks Durazzo and finally manages to kill Nadar. The kingdom is handed over to Milone, and everyone joyfully celebrates the wedding of Guerrino and Antinisca.

Cuccoli Angelo

Bologna

Handwritten summary

Foundling

Filiation

Quest

Love

Power

Epic

Guerrino detto il Meschino Agl'alberi del Sole Alla grotta della Fata Alcina Con Faggiolino suo scudiero