Monsieur Sapin (Mister Fir Tree) and Monsieur Fagot (Mister Bundle of Sticks) pretend to be philosophers. They convince Polichinelle to do so too. After quarrelling with her husband Polichinelle, Dame Gigogne also decides to become a philosopher. Outside his shop, Polichinelle puts a sign claiming that he is a philosopher. Arlequin and Gille, who want to take revenge on philosophers, assault Polichinelle, but he defeats them. Monsieur Sapin and Polichinelle see Dame Gigogne walk on all fours before giving birth to many children. All the characters sing a vaudeville together and the children dance at the very end of the play.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

Cadet de Beaupré (Louis Poinsinet de Sivry, aka Cadet de Beaupré)

France

Passy

Printed

Swazzle

Philosophy

Revenge

Deception

Pedant

Woman

Comical

Satirical

French

Comédie en un acte

Polichinelle

Gille

Arlecchino

Mother Gigogne

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Ballet

Multiplied characters

Childbirth on stage

Comical entrance

Domestic scene

Final song

Fight

Les Philosophes de bois

The Wooden philosophers

Rosalinde, dressed as a male student, enters Doctor Faust’s home and gives him a book of magical spells. As a consequence, Faust believes he is making a deal with the devil, but he is in fact the victim of a trick orchestrated by the young woman, who conspired with Faust’s houseboy – Hans Wurst. When Satan comes back at midnight, he tells Faust that he has no intention of keeping his promises, and that the poor man has sold his soul for nothing. And yet, he grants him a final trial, which could save him from Hell: Faust must resist the gorgeous Helen of Troy. But he gives in the moment that she appears to him. Rosalinde then reveals that she was both the devil and the beautiful Helen: it is to her that he has devoted his body and soul. The play ends with two weddings, as Rosalinde’s servant, Lisette, is Hans Wurst’s sweetheart.

Germany

Augsburg

Scholar

Sorcery

Madness

Humour

Professor

Gluttony

Doctor

Sophism

Devil

Joke

Morality

Seduction

Parodistic

Title page of the play in Johann Scheible's Das Kloster (1847)

German

Faust

Hanswurst

Domestic servant

Student

Helen of Troy

Monologue

Aside

Disguise

Cross-dressing

Sung scenes

Word for another

Chorus

Pact with the devil

Misunderstanding

Scene of recognition

Final wedding

Johann Faust oder der gefoppte Doktor

Johann Faust or the duped doctor

Kasperl drags on stage the corpse of the devil murdered in Kasperl und der Teufel, and, to get rid of it, throws it out of the hand-puppet booth. His wife suddenly tells him that Death is coming before running away. Death tells Kasperl that it is time to die, but he answers that he does not have time for that. As Death insists, he asks to go and kiss his dear wife one last time: he comes back with a stick and, letting Death go before him, he strikes the skeleton to pieces with a great blow in its back. He leaves and gently sings: everyone now celebrates Kasperl for having defeated Death.

Glove-puppet

Reinhardt Carl

Munich

Gruesome

Stick

Hits

Death

Household

Beer

Tavern

Tralala

Radirullala

Detail of a page from Carl Reinhardt, Das wahrhaftige Kasperltheater (based on a 1924 republication, Wien/Leipzig/München, Rikola Verlag, p. 75): Kasperl blows Death to pieces.

Kasperl

Mrs Kasperl

Spectacular turn of events

Allegory

Song

Address to the public

Blow-with-a-stick

Epilogue

Kasperl und der Tod

Kasperl and Death

After having locked the devil up in a box (in <a href="https://puppetplays.eu/en/oeuvres/5840/kasperl-und-der-teufel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kasperl und der Teufel</a>), Kasperl wants to throw him in the water. Suddenly, it is his wife who emerges from the box… and who starts to slap him many times to take revenge, for he wanted to get rid of her (<a href="https://puppetplays.eu/en/oeuvres/5777/frau-kasperl-und-die-k%C3%B6chin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frau Kasperl und die Köchin</a>)! Kasperl ends up throwing both his wife and the box out of the glove-puppet booth, and then goes to the inn. On the way, he encounters a curious animal peeping at him; he pets the animal, which bites him. He fetches a sausage to feed the animal, but decides to eat it and gives the skin of the sausage to the animal. The animal catches Kasperl’s arm with its maw, then catches him by the back of his pants… Kasperl goes to get his stick, which the animal tries to steal from him; the animal gets beaten and runs away, followed by Kasperl who wants to knock it out.

Sausage

Animal

Beast

Mace

Nightingale

Crocodile

Jaws

Glutton

Hunger

Grotesque

Farcical

Carl Reinhardt, Das geheimnisvolle Tier, 1852.

Chase

Slaps

Das geheimnisvolle Tier

The mysterious animal

Mrs Kasperl comes to ask her husband for money when Kasperl finds a cook to whom he has promised to marry her and who has just brought him a sausage and some wine. The two women argue with Kasperl and start fighting. Kasperl knocks them both out and locks them in a chest. Alerted by the noise, the night watchman comes to question him. Kasperl explains to him that the two women had a quarrel over some plums inside the chest, offers some to the watchman and closes the lid on the unfortunate man who has put his head in it. Then he leaves, announcing that he will throw the chest into the water...

Wine

Shrew

Couple

Married life

Kitchen

Plums

Quarrel

Unfaithfulness

Night watchman

Argument

Frau Kasperl und die Köchin

Mrs Kasperl and the cook

The devil steals the box in which Kasperl, in the previous play (<a href="https://puppetplays.eu/en/oeuvres/5777/frau-kasperl-und-die-köchin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frau Kasperl und die Köchin</a>) had locked his wife, his lover and the night watchman. He replaces it with another box in which Kasperl almost gets his nose stuck when he comes to sniff if it does not contain sausages. Instead, the devil emerges and wants to take him away. But Kasperl has fun making him disappear and reappear with the magic formula "Parlucke! Parlicke" until the devil gets dizzy and cries for mercy. He insists that Kasperl follow him, who finally announces that he is going to draw his will and returns with a club, with which he kills the devil. He seals him up in the box and goes to throw it in the fire.

Drinking

Eating

Perlike

Grandparents

Eternal punishment

Excessive drinking

Drunkard

Role reversal

Running gag

Apparition of the Devil

Hidden corpse

Kasperl und der Teufel

Kasperl and the Devil

In this expanded version of the play, Kasperl introduces himself to the Sultan as a botanist and impresses him with his knowledge of radishes (which go well with beer), so much so that he is hired into his service. But he is unhappy with his situation in a Muslim country where the consumption of alcohol is forbidden (except for the Sultan, in secret). He decides to flee with the slave Mimikatzi, who is being held in Schuriburi's seraglio. Kasperl offers to rid the Sultan of the mosquitoes he has to complain about and beats him to death with his stick. Night falls: Kasperl and Mimikatzi flee.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Turkey

Despotism

Cruelty

Pipe

Black

Orientalism

Muslim

Botany

Radish

Mosquitoes

Seraglio

Harem

Music

Konstantinopolitanisches Lustspiel

Sultan

Jailer

Slave

Drum

Turk

Murder on stage

Allusion to current literary events

Running away

Criticism of actors' theatre

Versified passages

Confinement

Kasperl in der Türkei

Kasperl in Turkey

Madame du Croisy gives Madame Henriette de Frémicourt and Madame Louise de Laveneur a tour of the apartment they are moving into. Once alone, the two women get into the same bed. Their conversation, polite and respectful at first, slowly takes an errotic turn. They end up confessing their mutual affection. In the end, their dialogue turns into kisses and caresses; they undress and engage in love making.

Adults

Monnier Henry

Paris

Tenant

Sexual intercourse

Homosexuality

Erotic

Félicien Rops, frontispiece for Le Théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé (1864).

Landlord

Young woman

Lady

Maid

Situation comedy

Erotic scene

Undressed character on stage

Scene of copulation

Les Deux Gougnottes : dialogues infâmes

The Two Lesbians: foul dialogues

Madame Benoiton calls the doctor Prudhomme, as she says that she is unwell. However, she refuses to specify where she is hurting, only declaring that she is suffering. Facing this lack of information, the doctor prescribes her a course of treatment in either Vichy or the Pyrenees. Madame Benoiton refuses, saying that there, “we are bored to death”. Prudhomme then suggests sea bathing, but she also refuses because it would impose three toiletry changes and dance parties every day. Puzzled, the doctor finally diagnoses her with something: he advises her to find a “toy”. She admits that she feels a void in her heart. He believes that she is in love with him and starts wooing her. They discover that Madame Benoiton enjoys poetry. Prudhomme recites a madrigal that he used a lot when he was younger; even after this, Madame Benoiton is not satisfied. Prudhomme offers to hypnotise her. When she falls asleep, he questions her and discovers that her heart suffers… because of him. The doctor is the cause of her troubles. Moved, he kneels before her and declares his love. To his surprise, Madame Benoiton bursts into laughter. He realises that she was not asleep but that she followed his first advice: to find a “toy”.

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Boredom

Poetry

Love

Magnetism

Lemercier de Neuville, illustration for Madame Benoiton est indisposée, 1868.

Physician

Monsieur Prudhomme

Inserting poetry

Sleeping character

Madame Benoiton est indisposée

Madame Benoiton is unwell

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.