Mr. Casperl, a wealthy man of private income, has an appointment with Lieutenant Säbelmaier and the wife of the secretary Federspitzen for an excursion to Lake Starnberg near Munich, but his barber comes too late and he has to leave in a hurry to catch his train, which had been announced late. In the second part of the play, the boat of the three excursionists is wrecked by a sudden storm on the lake. Säbelmaier and Mrs. Federspitzen probably managed to save themselves. Casperl has been living like Robinson for eight days in a deserted forest by the lake. He finally meets a sheep with whom he can talk about philosophy, because it is in fact the reincarnation of a professor and living proof of the truth of metempsychosis. But they argue and the sheep flees in the face of another coming storm. A hunter then finds Casperl passed out and wants to bring him to justice as a poacher, but ends up recognising him as the man who disappeared eight days ago, and Casperl concludes by recommending that the audience take the steamboat instead.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Manuscript

Train

Railway

Train station

Independently wealthy person

Military

Secretary

Civil servant

Bourgeoisie

Barber

Robinson

Shipwreck

Beer

Hunger

Lamb

Sheep

Professor

Metempsychosis

Reincarnation

Philosophy

Hinduism

Pantheism

Poacher

Loneliness

Parodistic

Comical

Burlesque

Humorous

German

Die Parthie nach Starnberg; Herr Casperl als Robinson

Die Parthie nach Starnberg

Kasperl

Lieutenant

Hunter

Dream

Unexpected turn of events

Monologue

Talking animal

Scene of recognition

Criticism of actors' theatre

Off-stage voice

Address to the public

Aria

Argument

Caricature

Philosophical dialogue

Casperl als Robinsohn

Casperl as Robinson

A poet comes out of his bath to walk on a bridge and enjoy the sunset. A gardener walks past him and mentions the glorious life he gave up in order to cultivate flowers. A young man relates his day spent hunting alone. Then comes a stranger, and after him a girl who is listening to a traveling singer. Night has now fallen. A group of three people arrives on the bridge: a madman, his servant, and a doctor. The madman is a young nobleman who had a life of abundance before devoting himself to solitude and to roaming. He meditates on the illusion of all things while leaning on the bannister. He tries to throw himself in the water, but his comrades prevent him from doing so.

Not specified

Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August

Austria

Bad Fusch

Printed

Bath

Evening

Landscape

Flowers

Glory

Misery

Hunting

River

Childhood

Night

Destiny

Melancholy

Madness

Illusion

Suicide

Lyrical

Oder die Glücklichen

Gardener

Poet

Street singer

Fool

Domestic servant

Physician

Teichoscopy

Light effects

Song

Das kleine Welttheater

The small theatre of the world

The Moon Man finds himself on Earth after having secretly travelled in the astronauts' rocket returning from a mission to his planet. He meets Kasperl's grandmother, whom he asks to take control of the rocket to take him back to the moon. When Kasperl and Seppl notice that he is missing, they fly to his rescue in another rocket. The Moon Man wants the grandmother to stay with him all the time to cook for him, which she refuses. When they arrive on the Moon, Kasperl and Seppl trick the Moon Man into thinking they are Moon Calves and then blind him with the light of a torch. Kasperl, Seppl and the grandmother all flee with the rockets, leaving the Moon Man relieved to be alone.

Glove-puppet

Schultheis Ole

Rocket

Moon

Cosmic journey

Rescue

Kidnapping

Animals, Mythical

Fantasy

Ein Kasperlstück

Seppl

Grandmother

Inhabitants on the moon

Dialogue with the audience

Trap

Imitation

Kasperl und der Mann vom Mond

Kasperl et l'Homme de la Lune

H. and F., an old working-class couple, dwell on their past while waiting to die in a hospice. Their dialogue develops in a suspended time and a dark atmosphere. Between recriminations, sadness and bitter memories, time is filled only with their quarrels and the few repetitive actions they perform every day in their room. Pierrot, their only son, who has not visited them for a long time, is a constant presence-absence in their daily life, one of their main sources of discussion.

Adults

Lemahieu Daniel

France

Paris

Avignon

Typed or electronic text with handwritten annotations

Old age

Couple

Domestic violence

Labour

Unemployment

Society

Worker

Daily

Taboo

Oppression

Sub-text

Homosexuality

Realist

French

Old man

Old woman

Domestic scene

Invisible character

Awaiting

Silence

Analepsis (Flash-back)

Entre Chien et Loup

At twilight

In a tavern, Virgili presents four short stories that take place in a circus and have the themes of solitude, failure and death in common. A clown, in love with a trapeze artist, kills her partner; a trainer treats his wife as if she were a circus animal and ends up killing her; a young juggler kills his father with the needles he uses to inject cocaine; a soldier, a musician in the circus band who raped girls and killed children during the war, ends up shot as a deserter.

Alapont Pasqual

Spain

Valencia

Love

Despair

Discrimination

Death

Revenge

Violence

Spousal abuse

Circus

Domination

Murder

Dramatic

Grotesque

Catalan

Obra per a un actor i titelles

Clown

Trapeze artist

Accordionist

Edith Piaf

Waiter

Spider

Jazz Band

Billie Holiday

Tamer

Carlos Gardel

Guitarist

Dancer

Juggler

Father

Soldier

Harald Paulsen

General

Announcer

Metatheatre

Throws

Murder on stage

Allegory

El circ de la fosca

Le cirque des ténèbres

Caliban, the slave of Prospero the magician, expresses his loneliness and the difficulty he has interacting with others. He retells his personal story, characterized by his submission to the magician since he arrived on Caliban's island, and by his desire for Prospero's daughter Miranda. Antonio, Prospero's brother and the one responsible for his deposition, is washed up on the shores with the King of Naples and his crew. Caliban meets Trinculo and Stephano, two drunkards who come up with a plan to kill Prospero and steal his books. However, when it is time to take action, Caliban thinks of his mother, and supernatural spirits take possession of him. He then goes back on his decision. Meanwhile, Prospero uses a ploy to get back his title as Duke of Milan. He suggests to the King of Naples that their two children, Miranda and Ferdinand, marry. The King accepts, and they decide to go back to Italy. They make fun of Caliban and insult him before abandoning him on his island.

Object theatre

Great Britain

Brighton

Knowledge

Magic

Slavery

Shakespeare

Tim Couch, La Tempête de Caliban, directed by the Compagnie Pupella-Noguès, 2023.

English

Monster

Mother

Spirit

Magician

Duke

Daughter

Throwing objects

Magic act

Music

Plot scene

I, Caliban

Monsieur Legris lives alone in a sad house, where everything is either grey, black or white. That is, until a strange yellow parcel is delivered to his house, from which Confetti comes out. This tiny and colourful character hides immense sorrow inside him. Slowly, despite being complete opposites, the two characters grow closer – each learning how to live again thanks the other.

Delle Piane Emanuelle

L'Ami (de mon ami)

The Friend (of my friend)