Truitonne quarrels with her sister Florine – she is unhappy with her own name and reproaches her for being loved by everyone while she is despised. She would like to inflict pain on others and to be loved anyway. Their godfather Enchanteur Rotomago (Sorcerer Rotomago) announces that he would like them to marry: Truitonne with Prince Charmant (Prince Charming) and Florine with himself. Gilles, Prince Charmant’s servant , comes in and announces Prince Charmant’s arrival, but at first the characters mistake him for his master. When Charmant arrives, he immediately notices Florine, while Rotomago tries to draw attention to Truitonne. A Fée (fairy) steps in to warn him that Florine is the woman he must love. Rotomago bribes Gilles so that he helps him set up a trap. He will have Charmant believe that Florine has asked to see him. But taking advantage of the dark, they will make Truitonne come to the rendezvous instead. Thus, Truitonne poses as Florine and Charmant gives her a ring as a token of his love. As he believes that he is speaking to Florine, Charmant wishes out loud that a devil would carry her sister away, and his wish is fulfilled – a devil carries Florine away, but Charmant launches himself after her. Once at the cemetery, Charmant and Gilles meet an apparition of her that tells them that Florine is still alive. Rotomago asks Charmant to marry Truitonne, and when he refuses, he punishes him by changing him into a bird for seven years. Florine is made captive in a tower under the supervision of Gilles, who has them believe that Charmant died of sorrow and of an indigestion of rum babas. A blue bird (Oiseau bleu) enters her room, and Florine understands him to be Prince Charmant. He takes hold of a cane and hits Gilles. Rotomago, Truitonne and Gilles go after Oiseau bleu. The latter comes back to Florine and receives a letter brought by a Bourdon (bumblebee), in which he is told about an attack on his kingdom. Gilles glimpses Oiseau, shoots him with a gun then puts him in a magical coach that takes him to his own castle. There, he convinces the Seigneurs (lords) of his court to let him lead an army to battle. Rotomago appears and offers to give him back his human form on condition that he marries Truitonne. Charmant agrees in order to protect his subjects. As Charmant and Truitonne’s marriage is about to be celebrated, a Génie (Genie) appears with Florine. He transforms the Enchanteur into a turkey and convinces Gilles and Truitonne to marry, while Charmant will marry Florine.

String marionette

Not specified

France

Paris

Manuscript

Magic

Enchantment

Jealousy

Love

Treason

Hunting

Wedding

Fantasy

Comical

L'Oiseau bleu, first page of the manuscript.

French

Princess

Magician

Servant

Gille

Prince

Fairy

Genie

Devil

Lord

Misunderstanding

Song

Disguise

Set that comes to life

Situation comedy

Off-stage voice

Graveyard scene

Dance

Metamorphosis

Flying machine

Talking animal

Entering with vehicle

Letter

Blow-with-a-stick

Gunshot

Apparition of a genius

Final song

L'Oiseau bleu

The blue Bird

The bachelor Gripandouille courted Polichinelle's wife, Colombine, who rejected him. Two jealous neighbours, Mrs Cassandra and Mrs Cababuche, slandered Columbine. To warn her of this, Gripandouile wrote her a letter in which he made an appointment with her. But this letter fell into the hands of the neighbours. Gripandouille found out about it and, wanting to take revenge, told Cassandra that his wife had an appointment with a lover. In the meantime, Mrs Cababuche told Polichinelle that Colombine had an appointment with her lover. Polichinelle went to the appointment but, mistaking Mr and Mrs Cassandra for Colombine and her lover, he beat them up. Then, realising his mistake, he hit Mrs Cababuche because she had lied to him. The two shrews then urged their husbands to kill Polichinelle, but he persuaded the two men to go and consult a sorcerer instead to find out the truth about their wives. The sorcerer revealed the wickedness of the two women. The Gendarme and the Commissioner, called in to administer justice, hanged the two women to the great satisfaction of the husbands.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Gossip

Vilification

Malice

Neighbour (Woman)

Unfaithfulness

Revenge of the husbands

Trap

Bad marriage

Shakespeare

Farcical

Satirical

Polichinelle

Police Superintendant

Colombine

Spectacular turn of events

Hanging scene

Les Voisines

The neighbours

Donna Anna turns Don Juan away – she prefers her more virtuous brother. Don Juan asks his father for three hundred ducats to win her over. When Don Pedro refuses and threatens to throw him behind bars, he loses his temper and murders him. Don Juan flees the town with his servant Kasperl, whom he pretends is the new sergeant, to fool the guards, and they hide in the woods. There, they meet a hermit and Don Juan wants to borrow his clothes to disguise himself. But Kasperl tells the hermit what crimes his master Don Juan has committed, and Don Juan eliminates this troublesome witness. In the meantime, the devil appears to Kasperl, who promptly gets rid of him. As they arrive to an inn, Don Pedro’s ghost appears to them and Don Juan invites him to dinner. The ghost agrees to the invitation and is poorly received by Kasperl, who go as far as throwing a chair on him. Don Juan refuses to repent. The ghost invites him back, then holds out his hand to him to seal their deal. At this moment, devils come and carry him into the air. Kasperl takes all of his master’s money and celebrates.

Schmidt Leopold

Austria

Vienna

Father

Lover

Brother

Parricide

Money

Murder

Assassination

Tavern

Ghost

Phantom

Sausage

Woman

Excessive drinking

Nature

Vanity

Spirits

Dramatic

Tragic

Lyrical

German

Das nächtliche Gericht, oder Der steinerne Gast, oder Junker Hans von Stein

Don Juan

Don Pietro

Anna

Guard

Hermit

Kasperl

Waitress

Monologue

Versified passages

Apparition

Final intervention of the devil

Role reversal

Inn scene

Word for another

Apparition of the Devil

Murder on stage

Comic Equivocation

Running away

Dialect as a social marker

xDon Juan der Wilde

Don Juan the Wild Man

The old Ablamore, father of seven daughters, of whom only one, Astolaine, is still alive, wants to make the young Greek slave Alladine his mistress. Alladine and Palomides, Astolaine's fiancé, fall in love with each other. While Astolaine resigns herself to giving Palomides her freedom, Ablamore sinks into jealousy. Alladine and Palomides, shackled and blindfolded, are locked in an underground cave. They manage to free themselves from their bonds and are delighted by the beauty of the cave and an underground lake. Astolaine and the six sisters of Palomides, who have come to rescue them, let in the light of day which reveals the true aspect of the cave. The two lovers become frightened and fall into the lake. After being pulled out of the water, they are placed in two separate chambers and, while talking without seeing each other, they both die.

Maeterlinck Maurice

Belgium

Ghent

Lyon

Fiancé

Madness

Enclosure

Cave

Underground lake

Vision

Death

Light

Depreciation

Illness

Sister

Physician

Alladine et Palomides

Alladine and Palomides

Simple Simon pays a visit to his friend, Simple Susan, whom he thinks is a bit lazy. Simple Susan states that she hates men and that women can do anything better than them. She catcalls four boys, who bark as an answer, and asks them to help her build a house. First, she goes to choose work clothes. Simple Simon calls for her, but she is too busy and refuses his help. When she comes back in work clothes, the four boys bring the house that they have already built - a doll house. She asks them to send a picture of the house to the Daily Mail and to look for a buyer. While she complains about Simple Simon’s selfishness, he reappears, accompanied by a neighbour who thanks him for everything he is willing to do for her: build a carriage, a house, and go for a walk with her. Furious, Simple Susan asks the neighbour what she is going to do to repay Simple Simon. Her answer, “I can look pretty” makes Simple Susan break into pieces.

Craig Edward Gordon

Italy

Marina di Pisa

Feminism

Labour

Women's condition

House

Obedience

Seduction

English

Simple Simon

Address to the public

Animalised character

Splitting of the body

Simple Susan

Simple Susanne

Laura, born from Friedrich’s mind, appears piece by piece. Once complete, she arouses Elena’s jealousy and is dismembered again by her. Lime, Emil’s shadow, appears to Elena, who falls in love with him. Friedrich recognises Lime, shoots him and runs away. Emil comes on and charms Elena, who tells him in which direction Lime went. Lime comes back as he chases Elena, then he declares his love to the two women. Friedrich’s loving gaze makes Laura disappear, one bit at a time, until nothing but her foot remains. Friedrich is jealous of Lime, the infidelity of which Laura forgave, and pounces on him with a knife. Emil arrives to reclaim his shadow. Elena, Emil and Lime embrace one another, while Friedrich leaves with Laura’s foot.

Shadow theatre

Schwitters Kurt

Germany

Hanover

Czechia

Prague

Double

Dismembering

Autonomous parts of the body

Love argument

Dadaism

Vanguard

Fantastic

Duplication

Schattenspiel

Shadow Play

In Carlo Magno’s (Charlemagne) royal palace, paladins are getting ready to fight Agramante, who has besieged Paris, and his army. In a wood, while she is waiting for her lover Ruggero, Bradamante kills a snake; then she saves a soldier who was in danger because of another snake. The solider tells him that Ruggero is going to marry Marfisa and he promises Bradamante that he will lead her to Agramante’s camp, so she can challenge Ruggero in a duel. In the enemy camp, the knights are preparing to fight Carlo Magno’s army. Marfisa tends to Ruggero, who was wounded by Mandricardo. When Bradamante arrives, Marfisa goes to fight her in Ruggero’s stead. The two warriors fight in a duel. Ruggero arrives to split them up. When he learns that the knight fighting Marfisa is his beloved Bradamante, he explains that he could not meet with her at the appointed time because he was wounded. Marfisa eavesdrops on the conversation, without being seen, and discovers that Ruggero is in love with Bradamante. Ruggero and Marfisa are about to fight when the ghost of the magician Atlante appears and reveals that they are the twin children of the Chrisitan king Ruggero di Risa. Ruggero and Marfisa reconcile, decide to be christened and to go with Bradamante to Carlo Magno’s court.

L'Oiseau bleu

Les Voisines

xDon Juan der Wilde

Alladine et Palomides

Simple Susan

Schattenspiel

Battaglia tra Bradamante e Marfisa

Cavalleria Rusticana

Per opera dei pupi e opera lirica

Battaglia tra Bradamante e Ruggero e Marfisa

Riconoscimento