Guignol – a ragman – is upset as he finds nothing to resell. He comes across Gnafron, who is sleeping. Guignol is engaged to Louison – Gnafron’s daughter – but the three of them are lazy and penniless. They find a poster of the aeronaut Baloffet, who is about to take off for the Moon in a balloon and offers two thousand francs to whoever will go with him. Guignol volunteers and shares half of the advance on the reward with Gnafron. Louison is staying with her father and reproaches him for spending all the money he makes repairing shoes on wine. But the Bailli (bailiff) comes in and offers Gnafron twenty francs so that he shares with him the letters Guignol will send from the Moon. The balloon flies over a few forests then lands in the North Pole, before finally taking off for the Moon. Louison reads out Guignol’s first letter to the Bailli: Guignol is still on his way. On the Moon, the King and Queen attend a party where “mechanised dancers” are performing. Some guards bring in Guignol, who has just arrived. The King and Queen show him their wings. They are surprised to see that Guignol does not have any. They first consider putting him in a cage, but instead they ask him questions about life on Earth and how he travelled to the Moon. Guignol offers to establish business relationships between the Moon and the Earth. The King’s subjects revolt. Having been impressed by the gun Guignol carries, the King appoints him general-in-chief of his army. Guignol sends Baloffet back to Earth so that he brings Louison and Gnafron, who were already packing their things. Back on the Moon, Guignol has defeated the rebels, and he celebrates his victory by drinking wine. The Queen privately confesses her love to him. Gnafron and Louison have arrived on the Moon and come celebrate Guignol’s victory too. Gnafron is appointed as the King’s sommelier and the plays ends with a grand finale and a last verse.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Josserand Claude Louis François (aka Louis Josserand père)

France

Lyon

Manuscript

Moon

Gas balloon

Meals

Wine

Celebrity

Misery

Revolt

Seduction

Scatology

Comical

Fantasy

French

Guignol dans la Lune

Guignol

Gnafron

Inhabitants on the moon

Bailli

Prime Minister

Aeronaut

Queen

Guard

Monologue

Teichoscopy

Song

Off-stage voice

Letter

Ellipsis

Aside

Apotheosis

Versified passages

Final song

Flying machine

Word warping

Le Voyage de Guignol dans la Lune

Guignol travels to the Moon

Arlequin disembarks on an unknown land after a long boat journey. He puts on a coat made of animal skin as a precaution and with the hope of fooling animals. A wild cat sees him and walks towards him. Arlequin imitates his language and behaviour, going as far as climbing a tree. Meanwhile, Asdrubal and Pied-de-Biche (Crowbar) are hunting the wild cat to bring his head to the court. They look up and see two silhouettes perched in the tree. When Arlequin talks to them, they think that he is a talking animal. Intrigued, they watch him get down from the tree. Arlequin reveals his true identity and catches the hunter’s attention with the cheerful tale of his adventures. Asdrubal and Pied-de-Biche are charmed by his wit and decide to make him king, for it is very rare to find a man in the kingdom of the Ogres. Starving, Arlequin demands a meal. The whole court starts thinking about what dinner to make for him and where to find human flesh. Arlequin finds out that he is supposed to eat human meat and orders Pierrot to fetch a pot and a bean. However, the Ogres bring a pot with the intention of cooking their new king–Arlequin–in it. Two Parisians, Scaramouche and Tape-Dur, arrive at this moment: they recognise Arlequin and save him. Scaramouche declares that he and the king “will subscribe the Ogres to the thirty-two sous restaurants of the Palais-Royal” so that they definitely renounce human flesh.

Young audiences

des Essarts Emmanuel

Paris

Printed

Kingdoms

Savage

King

Cannibalism

Restaurant

Return

Alfred des Essarts, illustration for Le Naufrage d'Arlequin

Arlecchino

Chambellan

Hunter

Pierrot

Cook

Kitchen boy

Young woman

Ogre

Ogress

Disguised character (false identity)

Chorus

Off-stage noise

Stabbing

Le Naufrage d’Arlequin

Arlequin in a shipwreck

Two rats, Monsieur le Rat Deschamps (literally, Mister the Rat From-the-countryside), an elector, and Monsieur le Rat Deville (literally, Mister the Rat From-the-city) - candidate in the election, attend a dinner party organised to secure votes. Deschamps questions Deville on a number of subjects, and especially on his oratorical skills. Deville admits to not being a real orator; he reveals that he only knows how to imitate the voice of others and immediately illustrates his abilities. However, Deschamps questions his honesty and declares: “Ayant trop de voix, vous n’aurez pas la mienne” (“You have too many voices, you will not have mine”; in French, “voix” means both “voices” and “vote”). Deville does not despair and, addressing the audience, asks for support.

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Vichy

Elections

Corruption

Dinner

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, Les Deux Rats, 1866.

Member of parliament

Elector

Play in verse

Aria

Animalised character

Imitation

Address to the public

Instrumental tune

Allusion to current political events

Les Deux rats

The Two Rats

Nigot (Simpleton), M. Pigetout (literally, Mr Understands-Everything) and M. Machin (Mr Thing) are having lunch together and waiting for M. X…, the author who is supposed to bring the manuscript. However, when M. X… arrives, he is forbidden to enter. Later, M. Forfrais [play on words between “forfait” (flat rate) and “frais” (cost/fee)] , the treasurer, and M. Machin, director of the theatre, have a meeting during which they count the money they made from the performances. M. Machin needs a great sum of money to stage the performance with the leading actor M. Chose (Mr Stuff). Shortly after, M. Chose arrives and asks M. Forfrais for ten thousand francs; the latter tells him that the performance he was hired for has been cancelled and offers to buy his royalties. Then, M. X… visits M. Forfrais and asks for an advance on his royalties. M. Forfrais also suggests for him to drop his share of royalties and tickets for a hundred francs. The young author signs the agreement. M. Chose wishes to modify the play so that his character is constantly on stage; M. Pigetout decides to write to M. X… and asks him to rewrite the play. The play is very successful, but when M. Chose mentions the producers of the performance, he omits the author, who was not even able to see the performance.

Playwright

Stardom

Show

Money

Manipulation

Theatre

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

Director of the theatre

Author

Artist

Technician

Treasurer

Actor

Servant

Child

Passer-by

Audience

Situation comedy

Theatre within the theatre

Current affairs

Criticism of actors' theatre

Le Vrai Bonhomme

The Real Man

Hans is a happy new father but when the infant screams, he beats it. His wife Liesel worries, but she is in denial. Then Hans wants to baptise the child in beer. They quarrel again and eventually agree to call the infant Stiefele (boot), so that it will always have good shoes. The innkeeper Schnallans must prepare a feast, but they do not agree on the menu and Hans beats him to death. A police officer grabs him and wants to hang him, but Hans hangs him instead. Liesel worries because of the double murder which weights on her husband’s conscience and, above all, because there is no one to prepare the feast anymore. Hans settles the matter by fetching a whole Swiss cheese.

Müller Alphons

Germany

Frankfurt

Household

Couple

Family

Father

Infant

Feast

Party

Police

Justice

Gallows

Assassination

Serial murder

Cheese

Beer

Hanswurst

Farcical

Front cover of the collection Sechs neue Lust-Spiele für das Porzinell-Theater

German

Idyllisches Lustspiel in einem Akt

Mother

Baby

Innkeeper

Police officer

Murder on stage

Comic equivocation

Hanging scene

Fight

Domestic scene

Die Taufe

The Christening

The knight Fichtou arrives on stage breathless: he hit an old man in the forest and his horse died by accident. He says goodbye to his horse then leaves the stage. The admiral Caratchou, a pagan, arrives. He is looking for adventures and decides to stay near a bridge to keep people from crossing it. Then he relates his various achievements. The knight Fichtou comes back and they both fight. Fichtou wounds Caratchou and forces him to abjure his religion, before fetching something to drink for him. He comes back with a watering can he took from a farmer after fighting him. Caratchou asks Fichtou to bring him the balms in his luggage to heal his wounds. He coats himself in the balms then stands up, healed, and says goodbye to Fichtou as he leaves, but he forgets his pants. Fichtou meets the Roi (king) de la Drap d’Maison and the prince Drap d’chiel à Bouton and tells them how he has freed the bridge. The prince brags about having won a duel against Caratchou. Then the three of them go have something to eat but the king can only afford some paltry leftovers meant for the cat. The king and prince go hunting. Fichtou meets a farmer and asks him to fetch his wife. He reunites with his wife and asks why she looks so unwell. Fichtou relates his fight against Caratchou and asks her wife why she is so pale. The princess tells him that she has given birth to a stillborn child, who was almost three metres high, and that they had to fold him in half to bury him. They both decide to go have a meal.

Single rod marionettes

Belgium

Liège

Knighthood

Bragging

Duel

Miraculous cure

Epic

Histoire du Terrible Chevalier Fichtou (first page).

Knight

Princess

Peasant

Story

Histoire du terrible chevalier Fichtou

Story of the terrible knight Fichtou

Cockatrice is made aware that he must not look at himself in a mirror, otherwise he will die. As he wants to admire his own beauty, he runs away and visits a painter to get a portrait of himself painted. To flatter him, the painter portrays him like an English gentleman. Blind-Boy finds Cockatrice and takes him away with him without paying the painter. Blind-boy tells Cockatrice that Columbus the Parrot and himself met a very old man named Old Man Adam, who owns a donkey, a table, and a stick which have magical powers. All three of them go to Old Man Adam’s house, and Old Man Adam gives them the objects as presents as they will lose their magical powers should they not change owners.

String marionette

Craig Edward Gordon

Italy

Marina di Pisa

Portrait

Magic

Enchanted object

Wealth

Forest

Donkey

Mirror

Narcissism

Runaway

Magical words

Thief

English

Cockatrice

Basilic

Blind Boy

Blind

Parrot

Columbus

Pretty Polly

Painter

Adam

The Magic Donkey

Table

Stick

Hidden character

Blind character

The Painter and the Three Magics

Le Peintre et les trois objets magiques

Blind Boy, Cockatrice, and Columbus the Parrot are headed to Rome. The Magic Donkey refuses to walk because it is afraid of Cockatrice’s face, and until he wears a mask. At a crossroads where three different roads lead to Rome, they each decide to follow a different path and agree to meet at the Royal George, an inn. Columbus, disguised as a rich traveller, gets to the inn first. He uses the Magic Table to gift a delightful meal to all customers. After this meal, Columbus goes to sleep, and Oward, the innkeeper, switches the Magic Table with an ordinary one. In the morning, Columbus receives a telegram from the King of Rome, who is also the King of Europe, inviting him to his palace to meet his daughter, Princess Razzlemond, and to marry her. At court, Columbus tries to make another feast appear but fails. The innkeeper complains about his table being stolen, and Columbus is sent to prison.