Polichinelle tells the Compère the story how he became Pluton (Pluto)’s coachman. He helps the latter capture Proserpine. Her mother – Cérès (Ceres) – protests, but Jupiter declares that Proserpine will be handed back to Ceres on condition that she does not eat or drink anything in the Underworld. Polichinelle testifies that he has seen Proserpine eat “way more than just a pear”. Jupiter therefore rules that Pluton can keep her.

Not specified

France

Paris

Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Printed

Mother-daughter relationship

Greek mythology

Hell

Judgment of God

Kidnapping

Devil

Horse

Coachman

Glory

Carriage

Minuet

Comical

Parodistic

Farcical

French

Polichinelle

The Interpreter

Pluto

Faun

Proserpina

Pallas

Ceres

Apparition of a god

Bawdy equivocation

Comic equivocation

Instrumental tune

Dialogue with a character in the audience

L'Enlèvement de Proserpine par Pluton roi des Enfers

The Abduction of Prosperpine by Pluton king of the Underworld

Pierrot has just arrived in the Underworld after being hanged. Pluton (Pluto) tasks him with judging newcomers. Pythagore (Pythagoras), a Poète (Poet), a Financier, a Coquette, an Actrice d’Opéra (Opera Actress) and a Médecin (Doctor) go before him. Each is put in an unexpected group (the comedians for Pythagore, the false witnesses for the Poète, the coach drivers for the financier, etc.).

Printed summary

Judge

Judgment

Rivalry of theatres

Life of the theatres

Swindling

Medicine

Satirical

Manuscrit of Pierrot arbitre (BnF, Ms Fr 9313).

Pierrot

Pythagoras

Poet

Financier

Coquette

Actress

Physician

Play with drawers

Final song

Surprise effect

Aria

Pierrot arbitre

Pierrot arbitrator

The show begins with a ballet by the Angels, who kneel before God. Then Mestre-Salas and Padre Chancas talk in a comic way. In the Garden of Eden, God creates the light, the Sun and the Moon, that all quarrel to determine which one of them is the most important. God creates Adam and Eve, then plants and animals. He asks the couple not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil under any circumstances. The snake tempts Eve, who bites into the apple of the tree, then has Adam taste it too. God discovers their violation and throws Adam, Eve and the Snake out of paradise. On earth, Adam and Eve live in poverty – Adam works the land and Eve spins wool. Adam is angry and accuses Eve of having caused their misery and he hits her while she insults him. Adam asks for God’s forgiveness. Adam and Eve’s sons, Abel and Cain, make offerings to God. Cain envies God’s preference for his brother and makes fun of Abel (who wets himself out of fear) before killing him. Abel’s corpse is carried into Heaven by the Angels. Eve loses her temper with Cain, who insults her, shows no remorse and defies God. The latter curses Cain by making him all black and damning him. Even in Hell, Cain continues to brag, and he makes fun of demons. He cheats while playing cards again the Devil. The show ends with a gag: a voice in the wings relates that a banger popped in the room and tore a hole in the pants of a member of the audience.

Single rod marionettes

Portugal

Borba

Évora

Genesis

Original sin

Eternal punishment

Bible

Adam

Abel

Cain

Angel

Religious

Fantasy

The Ballet of Angels by the Bonecos de Santo Aleixo

Portuguese

God (monotheism)

Choir

Moon

Vicar

Barker

Demiurge

Snake

Spinner

Play in verse

Sung scenes

Off-stage voice

Murder on stage

Sarabande

Blow-with-a-stick

Ascent to heaven

Explosion

Animal cry

Pyrotechnics

Aside

Change of head on sight

Comical regional accent

Word warping

Lazzi

Kicking on the ground (sound effect)

Auto da Criação do Mundo

Auto of the Creation of the World

Leander is in love with Leontine, the daughter of the rich Gebhard. Leander’s footman, Hanswurst, is in love with the maid, Katharinchen. Old Gebhard spends his time reading two books from the "Das Reich der Todten" (The Empire of the Dead) series, which collects imaginary conversations between dead people. He is against his daughter’s wedding. Leander only has a chance at marrying her if he learns the books by heart. The lovers decide to give a sleeping pill to Gebhard, to take him to the garden, and to make him believe that he died. They dress up to stage the chaos happening in The Empire of the Dead. Leontine, Leander, Katharinchen, and Hanswurst go to meet the old man one by one. They explain to him that they too died and that it was his fault. Gebhard thus ends up giving his consent for the wedding. Ernst, a cereal merchant from whom Leander sought advice, enters the stage to expose the trickery to Gebhard, who learns that none of them is dead.

String marionette

Hofmann Anton

Germany

Augsburg

Manuscript

Death

Reading

Illusion

Deception

Wedding prevented

Father

Dialogue of the dead

Poster from Joseph Peter Seelig, Augsburg, circa 1820 (Stephan Oettermann: Ankündigungs-Zettel von Kunstreitern, Akrobaten, Tänzern, Taschenspielern, Feuerwerkern, Luftballons und dergleichen, Wiesbaden 1993, no. 1683)

German

Die bestrafte Einbildung, oder: Das Reich der Todten mitten im Reich, der Lebendigen

Rentier

Fiancée

Chambermaid

Merchant (man)

Fiancé

Léandre

Hanswurst

Servant

Disguise

Illusory world

Final wedding

Monologue

Cross-dressing

Das Reich der Todten

The Empire of the Dead

Satan and the Anges rebelles (Rebel Angels) are trying to go back to heaven, but they are defeated and repelled into the abyss by the Archange Michel (Archangel Michael). The Verbe (Word; God) appears and creates the planets. In the underworld, the Anges rebelles are planning their revenge: they gather riches and have a palace built. Satan finds out that Dieu (God) is going to create l’Homme (Man) and he wants to cause his downfall. He manages to escape Hell and to go to the physical World. In the Terrestrial Paradise, Ève, tempted by Satan posing as a snake, convinces Adam to eat the Fruit from the Tree of knowledge. The two are driven out of Paradise. Carried to a mountain by an Ange (Angel), Adam sees the future in a dream—episodes from the Old Testament, the birth and death of Jesus, the Last Judgment. The last tableau shows the Almighty God on his throne.

Automaton

Josse Pierre-Charles

Evil

Revolt

Fall

Creation of the world

Heaven

Temptation

L'Origine du monde et la chute du premier homme, 1763 (page 1)

Satan

Saint Michael

Beelzebub

Architect

Mammon

Time

Dreams

Gabriel

Pharaoh

Solomon

Nabuchodonosor

Jesus

Allegory

Apparition

Fight

Avista

Flying machine

Disguised character (false identity)

Dream

L'Origine du monde et la chute du premier homme

The Origin of the world of the fall of the first man

The play begins with a council of Démons (Demons) during which Pluton (Pluto), furious that Antoine (Anthony) is diverting the souls of the Underworld with his prayers, orders the Démons to capture him, and promises a reward for the one who will succeed. Proserpine (Proserpina), his wife, asks for permission to go alone to seduce the hermit. Antoine recognises her immediately and resists her charms. Pluton then tries a different approach, and pretends to be a beggar caught in a storm. Exposed, he asks Antoine to surrender his soul to him, but the hermit reasserts his faith in God. The Démons then appear suddenly, drag Antoine in a hellish dance and set fire to the tail of his Cochon (Pig). They also destroy his hermitage and tell him that they will transform his faithful companion into a sausage. Antoine is exhausted and begs God, who sends down an Ange (Angel) to rebuild the chapel and turn Pluton into a basket of flowers. During the grand finale, Antoine rises to the sky followed by his Cochon.

All audiences

Revenge

Monk

Seduction

Belief

Reward

Joke

Miracle

Prime Minister

Demon

Sculptor monk

Song

Chorus

Apparition of demons

Dance

Demons dance

Thunderbolt

Apotheosis

La Tentation de Saint-Antoine

The Temptation of Saint Anthony

Don Juan is displeased with his servants and employs Hans Wurst. He goes see his father to beg for money, but the latter lost everything and reprimands him, while also suggesting that he live with him again. Don Juan kills him. In the following scene, Hans Wurst meets his sister in the woods – she is on her way to Paris, where she wants to report her brother as a father-killer to the king. Don Juan hears her and murders her. Then he asks Hans Wurst to find the hermit who lives in the woods to take his trousers, so that he can flee incognito. The hermit, who vowed never to change his clothes, refuses. Don Juan kills him too. Then they go to a cemetery, where Don Juan wants to summon spirits. His father’s ghost appears, Don Juan invites him over for dinner (at six in the evening) and, on this same evening, the ghost invites him back. As they agree to the meeting with a handshake, lighting flashes in the sky – Don Juan is damned. Devils carry him to Hell.

L'Enlèvement de Proserpine par Pluton roi des Enfers

Pierrot arbitre

Auto da Criação do Mundo

Das Reich der Todten

L'Origine du monde et la chute du premier homme

La Tentation de Saint-Antoine

Don Juan

Doctor Faust

Eine alte Volks-Sage, aus den Zeiten des 12ten Jahrhunderts in 5 Aufzügen

Doktor Johann Faust

Don Juan