Punch is furious because his sister, Mopsa, has been insulted. He offers to avenge her, but Mopsa prefers to go to court to ask their father, the magistrate Gormoncho, to punish the insult. Gormoncho comes on. The stage direction states that he should be wearing regalia, but that thieves have attacked the puppeteers on their way to the city and have stolen it. In court, Wyario, the clerk, reads Gormoncho an accusation against unknown people for robbing the regalia. The magistrate promises to punish the thieves, and moves on to the next case – Mopsa’s complaint. Mopsa accuses Alanio of having sung a bawdy song under her window. Alanio bursts into the room attended with two constables: it turns out that the thief is none other than Gormoncho himself.

Rod and string marionette

Ireland

Printed

Revenge

Judgment

Thief

Morality

Burlesque

English

Magistrato

Clerk

Daughter

Constable

Sergeant

Arrest scene

Court scene

Burlesque upon Magistracy; or, Punch out of Humour

Two friends, Mooney and Spooney, meet. They had pulled a bad prank on the king and were fired for it. Thus, they decide to become stationmasters. Orlando has to take a train to Birmingham, which saddens his wife, Sophonisba. He reassures her by saying he will be home for dinner. They agree to eat mutton. Mooney and Spooney, now stationmasters, start singing instead of talking, as was required by Bradshaw. They meet Kaffir, a mysterious character who does not speak their language. According to Mooney, Kaffir wants to be a train driver. Mooney gives him the position. Mrs. Muddle reaches the platform. She wants to take the train to Birmingham and send a telegram from there. A two-legged Bradshaw’s Guide appears in front of Mooney and asks him in a loud voice why he is not singing. He adds that Spooney sings out of tune and that both of them must stop singing. Orlando, now at the train station, refuses to pay for his train ticket but is forced to do so by the stationmasters. He puts his luggage on the train and leaves to fetch the money. When he comes back an hour later, he learns that the train left with his luggage before the time given by the Bradshaw’s Guide. When the train heading to Birmingham pulls into the station, Spooney and Mooney go warn Mrs. Muddle, but she wants to take an omnibus over the train. She leaves, accusing them of wanting to trick her. When she comes back to pick up her things, she learns that the train left with them. Meanwhile, Sophonisba worries about her husband being late. Their cook, ruined the meal and offers to make an Irish stew instead. Orlando comes home and curses the Bradshaw because the trains do not leave according to the guide’s timetables. Bradshaw comes into play. He states that he took revenge and changed the train schedules because his order of singing was not respected.

Young audiences

Carroll Lewis

Great Britain

Croft-on-Tees

Train station

Train times

Train

Journey

Comical

Humorous

Farcical

L. Carroll, La Guida di Bragia. The Lewis Carroll Society of North America, 1999.

Announcer

Stationmaster

Husband

Wife

Traveller

Cook

Situation comedy

Word warping

Song

Personified object

Misunderstanding

La Guida di Bragia

A wealthy baker chef asks his cousin the apothecary to help him poison Pierrot, who is constantly robbing and assaulting him. When this plan fails, he sends his dog after the thief, but Pierrot kills the dog. Knowing that Pierrot has always wanted to learn pastry-making, the baker pretends to take him on as an apprentice to get revenge. But Pierrot plays many tricks. The gendarme, who has come to arrest him, is swindled, then hanged in the villain's place. Pierrot kills the baker and the apothecary, as a worthy disciple of Polichinelle.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Pastry

Theft

Money

Wickedness

Poison

Learning

Criminal

Perseverance in Evil

Cruelty

Cruelty to an animal

French

Pierrot

Pastry chef

Apothecary

Blow-with-a-stick

Headbutt

Fight with an animal

Lazzi

Back Stroke

Hanging scene

Pierrot et le pâtissier

Pierrot and the baker

The king's daughter is to be married, but she will only marry a man who is both rich and intelligent. Known for his wit, Arlequin arrives at the palace, only to be beaten back with a stick by the Swiss guard at the entrance. Desperate, he confides his misadventure to a beggar, who suggests that he should become rich by setting up a business in beating people with sticks. Arlequin decides to do so. The customers, who come in great numbers, make his fortune. But Arlequin, increasingly revolted by their wickedness, ends up beating his customers with a stick. Rich enough and threatened with hanging by the Commissaire, he gives his business to Pierrot for free. Pierrot hangs the Commissaire, who has come to hang him, and comes to ask Arlequin for an explanation. Thanks to his wealth and wit, Arlequin is able to marry the princess and have Pierrot appointed as the new Commissaire.

Wealth

Witty man

Trade

Discord

Scruples

Satirical

Arlecchino

Swiss

Beggar

Peasant

Cassandre

Cassandra

Police Superintendant

King

Herald

Aside

Plot twist

Le Marchand de coups de bâton

Merchant of blows-with-a-stick

Captain Caricknagat, heading a ship of pirates, beats and expels Joe Miles since he made a move on his wife. Miles promises vengeance. The Captain and his team disembark on the shore of an island to find fresh water. They are attacked by its inhabitants. Captain asks a part of his troupes to bring his wife, 'The Lolita,' to his ship while he fights with the natives. Upon return to the ship, however, she is nowhere to be found, and the majority of his men have perished in the battle. Two days later, James Broad, the boatswain, returns. He has escaped and carries a message that The Lolita etched into a piece of tree bark. She writes that her body will be burnt and her head hung at the entrance of a cave. She asks her husband to recover her head, to put it in a box, and to bury it once back on their island (The Isle of Plumes). The Captain sends the last of his men to retrieve the remains of his wife, but it's a fluke, and only the Captain and James survive. The two pirates wait for nightfall to finally steal back the skull and the vessel before returning home. James dies of thirst as Captain nears the shore. Joe Miles, who is waiting for Captain on the island since being expelled from the ship, kills him for vengeance and steals his treasure. When he opens the chest, however, he finds only a severed head.

Toy theatre

Strete

Death

Piracy

Last will

Boat

Relic

Black comedy

Dramatic

Jack B. Yeats, The Scourge of the Gulph, 1911.

Or Fierce Revenge

Captain

Pirate

Narrator

Gunshot

Murder on stage

Wandering

The Scourge of The Gulph

Le Fouet du Golfe

Carcassier, a soft cheese merchant, finds it hard to make a living from his trade. He would like to marry the governor's daughter, whose father would like to find her a rich and intelligent husband. His friend Barbantu offers to buy his cheese business on credit, but Carcassier refuses. Beaten by the Palace Doorman while trying to meet the governor's daughter, Carcassier is desperate. He meets a beggar who suggests that he learns from his misadventure and make a business selling sticks. Clients flock to Carcassier and he becomes richer, feeding the growing desire for revenge on his clients/victims. Feeling the wind shift, Carcassier gave up his business for free to Barbantu. The Commissioner arrives to stop this trade, arrests Barbantu and wants to hang him. Barbantu tricks and hangs the Commissioner instead. For his part, Carcassier goes to the Palace, offers his fortune to the Governor in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage and promises to stop trading sticks. He convinced the governor to spare Barbantu and give him the vacant post of Commissioner.

Shopkeeper

Landlord

Gouverneur

Monologue

Comical regional accent

The Merchant of blows-with-a-stick

A Soldier gives his only three coins to a Beggar whom he crosses path with thrice. The latter reveals himself to be SaintPeter. Saint Peter wanted to test the Soldier’s generosity, so he gives him a magical bag which can make all of his wishes come true. In a tavern, the Soldier learns that the Princess Tutu is held prisoner by the Devil in a haunted castle. Thrown out of the tavern after having stolen a turkey and some wine, the Soldier finds shelter for the night in the castle. He captures the Devil thanks to his bag and hands him over to the King. They kill the Devil together. However, the King had granted his daughter’s hand in marriage to Prince Panpan. The Soldier convinces the King to let him marry his daughter instead, and swears to defeat the army of Prince Panpan. Thanks to his magical bag, the Soldier prevails over the army. But Prince Panpan, the King and Princess Tutu, who has become weary of her new husband, unite so that they can kill the Soldier. The Princess tells them of the secret bag. Together, they hang the bag over the ramparts, but they get carried away by the weight of the Soldier and they all crash on the ground. The three characters knock on Heaven’s door, but they are denied access. The Soldier cannot enter Hell because the Devil is scared of him. Saint Peter refuses that he goes to Heaven because he has stolen a turkey and wine. The Soldier gives him the bag back, but he uses the magic spell which sends the four of them into the bag, thus allowing them to go to Heaven. Disconcerted, Saint Peter asks God for help, and God allows the four characters to stay in Heaven despite their misdeeds. Saint Peter wonders what his actual role is.

Magic object

Hell

Heaven

Reward

Rivalry in love

Punishment

Wedding

Fantasy

Soldier

Saint Peter

Innkeeper

Devil

Valet

Prince

Army

Double identity

Change of head on sight

Massacre scene

Night scene

Apparition of the Devil

Appearance of a god

Aria

Crac ! dans le sac !

Crack! In the sack!

From a bag, the Montreur (motion man/puppet showman) takes the puppets of Punch and Tobby the dog to perform his show. Punch and Tobby meet a deceptive fortune-teller who foresees a tragic future for Punch. Punch and Tobby steal her money, run away, and play a nasty trick on Commissaire (superintendent) Gambrinus. The Adjoint (second in charge) goes after them but ends up being beaten up with a club. Punch meets Judith, and the Montreur pairs them as pimp and prostitute: she seduces the clients and he knocks them out. Later on, Judith gives birth to an adult Anatole, and Punch kills the Professeur (professor) Levieux. The Hydre (Hydra) (“a constant pain in the arse”, at the same time solicitor and social worker) wants to withdraw the custody of Anatole from his father, Punch. They argue and behead the child. Punch kills the Hydre and then strangles Judith. The Commissaire and the Adjoint catch Punch. The trial requires a psychiatrist, but Punch hits the Psycha-cho-chiatre (play on the French word for psychiatrist) and runs off again. He sleeps with Commissaire Gabrinus’ wife, but the Commissaire catches them in the act. Punch is sentenced to death, but he manages to have the Bourreau (executioner) beheaded instead. The Diable (Devil) appears as Tobby and fights Punch but Punch kills him, escaping the fortune-teller’s prediction.

Adults

Serial murder

Prostitution

Couple

Abortion

Education

Justice

Unfaithfulness

Stick

Polemical

Gore

La Ballade de Mister Punch, poster, 1976.

Punch

Judy

Puppeteer

Child

Policeman

Physician

Guardian

Social worker

Judge

Voice

Hand

Psychiatrist

Lawyer

Executioner

Mise-en-abyme

Slaps

Address to the public

Dialog between a puppet and its puppeteer

Chase

Domestic scene

Allusion to current political events

Childbirth on stage

Apparition of the puppeteer

Character thrown out of the scene

Final intervention of the devil

La Ballade de Mister Punch

Mister Punch’s ballad

As Carlo Magno’s (Charlemagne) ambassador, Ruggero has gone to ask for the Pope’s help in the impeding war against the African king Agramante and other pagan kings. On the way home, Ruggero kills a snake in the woods. Then, in a port, he saves the princess Aladina as she was being abducted by a giant. At nightfall, Aladina and Ruggero ask for food and bed at Altaripa’s castle. At this moment (in this version), Ruggero is poisoned then killed by the traitor Pinamonte. The necromancer Malagigi hears about the death of Ruggero through demons. But Aladina manages to escape, goes to Carlo Magno’s court and relates this terrible act of treason. The paladins besiege Altaripa’s castle and Bradamante, Ruggero’s wife, kills Pinamonte.

Burlesque upon Magistracy; or, Punch out of Humour

La Guida di Bragia

Pierrot et le pâtissier

Le Marchand de coups de bâton

The Scourge of The Gulph

Or Fierce Revenge

Le Marchand de coups de bâton

Crac ! dans le sac !

La Ballade de Mister Punch

Avventure di Ruggero dell'Aquila bianca

The Children