Thanks to a new type of telescope that brought the Moon at one metre, the astronomer Télescopos and his servant Babylas, the watchman of the Observatory of Monaco, made a breakthrough; they end up on the Moon and are unable to leave. They meet strange and fantastic people, either allegorical or taken from recent events. As the Moon is waning, the residents have less and less space and want to go back to Earth. Télescopos, Babylas’s master, builds a new telescope to accomplish that. The play ends with a cellist reciting verses as payment for the journey back to Earth.

Shadow theatre

Adults

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Principality of Monaco

Monte Carlo

Printed

Strike

Invention

Telescope

Women's condition

Divorce

Gender equality

Government

Corruption

Social issue

Shelter

Colonialism

Moon

Parliament

Decadence

Astronomy

Psychological novel

Pantheon

Celebrity

Tourism

Fashion phenomenon

Satirical

Comical

Fantasy

French

Revue fantaisiste en 3 actes

Astronomer

Domestic servant

Writer

Member of parliament

Savage

Guardian

Singer

Actress

Singer (female)

Cellist

Personification

Ballet

Caricature

Aria

Current affairs

As-tu vu la lune, mon gas ?

Have you seen the moon, mate?

Gnafron is crippled with debts and flees to Madagascar with Guignol, but they board on a military ship and are forced to become soldiers. When they land in Madagascar, Gnafron is kidnapped by the Hovas, who believe him to be a general. They take him to their queen. Their own general having been captured by the French, they want Gnafron to replace him.
Guignol goes to Gnafron’s rescue. He enters the capital and tells the Queen that the French army is approaching. She agrees to surrender because she has fallen in love with Guignol. To avoid the watchful eye of the Prime Minister – who happens to be her husband – she meets Guignol in the main square of the town. There, the soldiers are training under the lead of the new general, who will be in a position to help them because he is French. Guignol therefore finds Gnafron. He lets him on his plan to seduce the queen and conquer the island. Gnafron agrees to help him. When he sees the Prime Minister approaching, he warns Guignol and the Queen. The Prime Minister tries to trigger a rebellion against the colonisers. He captures Guignol and plans to execute him. To save time and to free Guignol, the Queen postpones the execution to the following day. The French army walks into town. The Prime Minister asks the Hovas to fight for him. But as they are led by Gnafron, they attack the Prime Minister instead, and he flees. The Queen is freed. Guignol becomes Prime Minister; Gnafron marries Madame Dumont, who is expecting a child from a Hova man; and the French general announces that the mission was a success.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

France

Lyon

Manuscript

Creditor

Madagascar

Boat

Army

Metis

Love

Racism

Treason

Female warrior

Dramatic

Tony Tardy, Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

Voyage de Guignol et Gnafron à Madagascar

Guignol

Gnafron

Prime Minister

Leader

Hova

King's messenger

Sergeant

Captain

General

Caporal

Queen

Tripe maker (woman)

Grocer

Pork butcher

Butcher

Landlord

Spy (woman)

Warrior (female)

Soldier

Misunderstanding

Song

Character wearing heavy makeup

Apotheosis

Cross-dressing

Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

The Adventures of Guignol and Gnafron in Tananarive

Sir William comes to Guignol to suggest that he and Gnafron go sell pills and polish in Africa. The pills would whiten black people’s skins, and the polish would keep intact the skin colour of everyone who would like to stay black. The two friends accept, unaware that the commercial journey is a cover for the true mission, which is to stop captain Marchand from reaching Fashoda. They are joined by doctor Béziclier, who studies races, and his daughter Luce. In Africa, Gnafron’s business is not going well—nobody wants to buy the pills. On the other hand, Guignol’s polish sells very well. Guignol and Luce are in love, but Béziclier has already promised his daughter to their guide Friponi, who actually works for the British. Yet, the Italian man does not love Luce, who is only a means to his ends. With the help of Bétéké and his companions, he kidnaps Luce and Naora, the slave who travels with her. Friponi then brings the bad news to the doctor and to Guignol and Gnafron, and then goes to the two women’s “rescue”. He makes Korouto, the king of Bangala, believe that the French plan to “slaughter everyone and wipe everything out” and that he himself – Friponi – can prevent that from happening. To do so, he will need Korouto’s army, which the king agrees to lend him. Because the Italian does not need Luce, the king suggests that she be proposed to Joudochik, the king of a neighbouring land. Naora is in fact Korouto’s daughter. She explains to her father that the French have come to trade – not to wage war – and that Friponi is the real villain. The king understands that he was mistaken and decides to help the French find Luce. Joudochik is willing to give Luce back to Guignol, if she does not curse him. Luce agrees and promises him prosperity instead. Friponi understands that he has to stop the French on his own, and so he sets the forest on fire. Guignol and Gnafron catch and then kill him. Guignol and his friends arrive at Fashoda and befriend the Mahdi – the leader of the Soudanese people. Major Marchand announces that the Congo-Nile road has been drawn. Sirdar Kitchener, an English officer, contests it: Khartoum and Fashoda are theirs. The Major says that his soldiers would rather die than retreat, so the English pulls back in the end. The French have won Fashoda.

Raciology

Slavery

Homeland

Woman doctor

Trade

Kidnapping

Africa

Tony Tardy, Guignol à Fachoda (title page)

Italian

Traitor

Doctor

Prussian

English man

Colonel

King

African

Counselor

Sudanese

Commanding officer

Jean-Baptiste Marchand

Lieutenant

Officer

Horatio Herbert Kitchener

Rifleman

Senegalese

Slave

Peuples noirs de l'Oubanghui et du Soudan

Versified passages

Off-stage voice

Comical foreign accent

Final song

Guignol à Fachoda

Guignol at Fashoda

Gnafron is crippled with debts. He leaves France for Morocco with Guignol, but they board on a military ship and so the both of them become soldiers. After realising what their new “job” is, they land in Morocco as sentries. While keeping watch, Gnafron and Guignol meet the Qaid’s daughter, Ziléna. Guignol falls in love with the beautiful Muslim woman before even having seen her face – since he needs her father’s permission to do so. Guignol suggests that Gnafron replaces the muezzin’s donkey. He argues that when Ahmed – the muezzin – sees that his donkey has been changed into a man, he will interpret it as a miracle and take Gnafron to the Qaid. Gnafron would then be able to plan Guignol’s arrival. Guignol’s plan works: Ahmed and the Qaid believe in a miracle. He wants to know why “the donkey” took the shape of a French soldier. Gnafron explains that, for a brief period of time, the donkey worked for the French. The Qaid asks Gnafron whether he remembers the French manoeuvres and if he could teach them to his soldiers. Gnafron becomes the general of the Moroccans. In the meantime, Guignol arrives at the palace dressed in Moroccan fashion. He reunites with Ziléma, who agrees to marry him. Guignol warns the Qaid that the Zouaves are close by. The Qaid is distressed as he cannot find his daughter Ziléma. Guignol assures him that she will reappear. The Qaid promises to make him “the greatest Mufti of Islam” if the miracle takes place. At this exact moment, Ziléma unveils her face. The Qaid is overwhelmed with joy, and Guignol takes advantage of his emotion to ask for his approval to marry Ziléma. The Qaid agrees and promises to give Gnafron “a big “negress” of Beaujolais” – one possible meaning of “negress” in French being a bottle. When the Zouaves reaches the town, Guignol introduces himself as the sultan of Casbach. He allows them to enter the town and tells the Qaid that it is a day to celebrate. Gnafron is the only unhappy character at the end, as he is given a real “negress” instead of a bottle of Beaujolais.

Donkey

Veiled woman

Polygamy

Islam

Party

Tony Tardy, Guignol au Maroc (first page)

Fishmonger

Moroccan

Sultan

Zouave

Sailor

Disguised character (false identity)

Comic distortion of language

Dance

Guignol au Maroc

Guignol in Morocco

Kasperl had a rocket built for him, but he has yet to pay for it as he wants to test it first. A Gerichtsvollzieher (Bailiff) has to seize the rocket while the Flughafenwächter (Airport security guard) is about to sell it to another client. Kasperl fools them and, despite Gretl’s protest, he hops on the rocket and flies to the Moon. There, he encounters the Mondmann (Moon man), his wife, and other characters. A fight starts because the Mondmann wants to get rid of Kasperl: he is afraid that his star will become a tourist destination. Kasperl goes back to Earth and is interviewed on his trip. To pay for his journey, he suggests displaying the rocket in a museum.

As-tu vu la lune, mon gas ?

Revue fantaisiste en 3 actes

Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

Guignol à Fachoda

Guignol au Maroc

Kasperl Larifaris Mondfahrt

Ein Handpuppenspiel