Raggou, a French rogue, has been sentenced to death by hanging and is running away from the police. He meets another Frenchman, a puppeteer on his way to the Bristol Fair with his puppet booth. The runaway buys the booth and swaps his clothes with the puppeteer’s to trick his pursuers. When the two policemen ask if he has seen a French runaway, Raggou, dressed as a puppeteer, is forced to improvise a short performance. He then stages three acts, in which the king of Spain plays the bagpipes for his privy council while king Solomon is passing sentence; the queen of Swiveland and the Whore of Babylon vie to be the most lustful; the king of Norway and Denmark teaches the bishop of Munsera how to juggle. Flea-fint, a looter sentenced to death by hanging and pursued by the police, offers to buy Raggou’s puppet booth and to swap clothes with him. Raggou agrees and flees. Since he would not know how to stage a puppet play, Flea-fint comes up with a plan in case someone asked him to—the key is in Bristol, therefore he cannot open the booth. The true puppeteer comes back, accompanied by policemen. He asks Flea-Flint to give him back his possessions. Flea-flint is thus sentenced to death by hanging, but the policemen do not know how to hang him: instead, they plunder him and spare his life.

Curiosité

Not specified

Great Britain

London

Printed

Disguise

Foreign languages

Comical

Burlesque

John Lacy, The Old Troop; or, Monsieur Raggou, 1672 (front cover).

English

Prussian

King

Solomon

Queen

Prostitute

Bishop

Thief

Puppeteer

Constable

Song

Comic distortion of language

Running gag

Theatre within the theatre

Improvised scene

Current affairs

The Old Troop; or, Monsieur Raggou

The Compère (Stooge) is surprised when he sees two Polichinelle walk onto the stage: one of them is Arlequin dressed as Polichinelle, and the two quarrel. Alone, Polichinelle then asks the benevolent Fée (Fairy) to change him into Arlequin. She also gives him the power to transform anyone he wants into Arlequin. Several characters come to him: a Marchand (male Merchant) who wants to go to a ball to make sure that his wife is not being unfaithful to him; the female peasant Margot, who wants to become rich; an Ivrogne (Drunkard) who believes that he is at the Comédie-Italienne; and a Danseuse (female Dancer).

Rod and string marionette

France

Paris

Double

Rivalry of theatres

Talking nonsense

Social ascension

Fantasy

Les Métamorphoses de Polichinelle, Soleinne collection, BnF

French

Polichinelle

Arlecchino

The Interpreter

Fairy

Merchant (man)

Peasant (female)

Drunkard

Dancer

Double characters

Misunderstanding

Metamorphosis

Final song

Dancing entertainment

Aria

Les Métamorphoses de Polichinelle

Polichinelle's Metamorphoses

Polichinelle, Pierrot, and Arlequin, want to marry Colombine, the daughter of the wealthy Cassandre. The three suitors are alike in their mediocrity; Cassandre asks his daughter to choose the one that will be her husband. To win her hand, Polichinelle gifts her a ham, Pierrot a bottle of wine, and Arlequin a dandelion bouquet. She violently rejects Polichinelle and Pierrot, and chooses Arlequin. Polichinelle and Pierrot team up to isolate Arlequin, murder him and bury his corpse. They plan on pretending to be Arlequin and his valet in order to marry Colombine and get hold of her father’s money. However, Arlequin, exhumed and reanimated by a pig, arrives just in time to interrupt the wedding between Pierrot (who took his appearance) and Colombine. Pierrot and Arlequin made the pig, the only witness of their crime, disappear (they ate it), so Cassandre does not know what is the truth and who the real Arlequin is. He will accept as the real Arlequin the one who will bring him 1,000 écus. However, Arlequin is poor, and Pierrot gained 1,000 écus after selling his kitchenware: he will marry Colombine the next day. Distressed by their conscience and their gut issues, Pierrot and Polichinelle suffer from a terrible Cauchemar (Nightmare) accompanied with a Gendarme-Saucisse (Sausage-Constable) and a Commissaire-Andouille (Andouille-Superintendent) who repeatedly hit them. Polichinelle and Pierrot call for help, admit to their crimes and express remorse. Colombine and Arlequin can now marry.

Glove-puppet

Conspiracy

Murder

Cipidity

Gluttony

Deception

Nightmare

Marrying for money

Remorse

Relationship between man and animal

Hunger

Parodistic

Farcical

Grotesque

Duranty, ilustration for "La Tragédie d'Arlequin" (Théâtre des marionnettes du Jardin des Tuileries, 1862).

Cassandre

Cassandra

Colombina

Colombine

Pierrot

Scrap metal dealer

Police Superintendant

Dream

Spectacular turn of events

Fainting

Off-stage voice

Dance

Bucket of water poured on someone's head

Blow-with-a-stick

Ellipsis

Hidden character

Beating with pots

Blow

Dinner scene

Back Stroke

Personification

La Tragédie d'Arlequin

Arlequin’s tragedy

One rainy day, Pulcinella is waiting for his friend and roommate Mastro Raffaele to come home with some money so he can eat. Unfortunately, Mastro Raffaele has lost the coal he was supposed to sell, but he possesses a valuable item that he could pawn. When Mastro Raffaele goes to look for this item, Pulcinelluccio, the son of Pulcinella, shows up. Pulcinella has given Pulcinelluccio the job of taking a letter to his uncle to ask for a loan. But the child makes a greasy mark on the letter and his uncle refuses to read it. Pulcinella, furious, chases his son away. Even the hope of withdrawing some money from Mastro Raffaele’s treasury vanishes when the latter returns with an old garment. At that moment, the Prince of Casadoro, a friend of Pucinella, shows up.
The Prince has asked Cavaliere Buonobono for the hand of his daughter, the first dancer at the Naples Opera. Buonobono will agree to the marriage on condition that he meets the Prince’s family. But the Prince’s father and uncle are on a trip and the young lover, impatient to get married, asks Pulcinella and Mastro Raffaele to impersonate them. Buonobono starts to have doubts about the identity of the two friends when they throw themselves on the meal they have been served, climb on the table and put the spaghetti in their pockets. His suspicions are confirmed when he discovers Pulcinella with his wife. It turns out that Pulcinella’s wife and son had been hired as servants at Cavaliere Buonbono’s house after Pulcinella ejected them from his own house.
Despite the deception being uncovered, the young Prince obtains Buonobono’s forgiveness and pays Pulcinella and Mastro Raffaele for their services.