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

Double-faced head

Not specified

Portugal

Borba

Évora

Printed

Genesis

Original sin

Future punishment

Hell

Bible

Adam

Abel

Cain

Angel

Religious

Comical

Farcical

Fantasy

The Ballet of Angels by the Bonecos de Santo Aleixo

Portuguese

God (monotheism)

Choir

Moon

Vicar

Barker

The Interpreter

Demiurge

Snake

Devil

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

Wandering in the forest, Kasperl finds refuge with a hermit, who wants to lead him to repent. The Devil plants a giant radish in Kasperl's path, a magical object that assures its owner that all his wishes will come true. Kasperl immediately orders six litres of beer from the radish, a dish of Leberknödel (liver dumplings) and cabbage, and a sofa to sleep off his drunkenness. The Devil then returns to damn him in the form of a prostitute who wants to lie down beside Kasperl; but he pushes her away violently, shouting that he is drunk and needs to sleep in peace. Then the sky opens up and angelic choirs sing him praises: Kasperl has triumphed over the devil and he receives a halo. Not knowing what to do with it, he leaves it with the hermit, who, in exchange, leads him out of the forest.

Glove-puppet

Blümel Otto

Germany

Gaienhofen

Repentance

Renunciation

Radish

Knödel

Beer

Seduction

Temptation

Couch

Aureola

Hermann Hesse

Satirical

Burlesque

German

Hermit

Kasperl

Der Teufel in Gestalt eines buhlerischen Weibs

Prostitute

Voice

Song

Versified passages

Apparition of the Devil

Thunderbolt

Apparition

Apparition of an angel

Chorus

Dialect

Der Klausner

The hermit

A child escapes the war in Spain on a globe. He reaches the clouds and, soon enough, the sky. He means to relate outside Earth what is happening in his country, and to ask for help so that democracy and freedom, which are being threatened, prevail in Europe. He starts a conversation with the stars, which are aware of the state of things, then with an angel, a small planet and a joyful and friendly demon. Together, they summon the stars, armies of angel warriors and legions of demons to protect the world against the evil which is tearing Spain and Europe apart.