The Emperor is moved by the sadness of Guerrino il Meschino, who learnt about his origins through the perfidious Brunoro: when he was an infant, some privateers took him away from his parents, who were left at the mercy of the waves. The Emperor convokes an Enchanter who reveals to Guerrino that he must go to the Trees of the Sun in order to find his parents. He leaves with his squires, Faggiolino and Giuppino. The journey is not easy and Guerrino has to overcome many obstacles, such as the encounter with a cannibal whom he manages to kill. Once he has arrived at the Trees of the Sun, Guerrino manages to communicate with the Oracle of the Sun, whose voice tells him about his noble origins and explains that, in order to find his parents, who are still alive, he needs to head west. Guerrino and his squires are helped by the Solitario (“Solitary”), who tells them to find the fairy Alcina. There, Guerrino risks being caught in her net: Alcina does everything she can to seduce him and make him stay forever in her enchanted garden. But Guerrino comes back to his senses, threatens her with his sword, and she transforms into a statue. Alcina’s statue reveals that Guerrino’s parents are living in prison, in a state of famine. Guerrino resumes his journey and finally arrives at Taranto, where he helps his cousin Antinisca, Queen of Taranto, fight the villainous Saracen prince, Nadar. It is he who has usurped the throne of Durazzo, stealing it from Milone, Guerrino’s father, and who has separated the prince from his parents. Antinisca and Guerrino fall in love. The Queen gives Guerrino permission to search Taranto’s prisons for his parents, and to free them if he finds them, which he does. When Nadar learns about it, he abducts Guerrino’s parents again. Guerrino, with the help of his friend Alessandro, attacks Durazzo and finally manages to kill Nadar. The kingdom is handed over to Milone, and everyone joyfully celebrates the wedding of Guerrino and Antinisca.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Cuccoli Angelo

Italy

Bologna

Handwritten summary

Foundling

Filiation

Quest

Journey

Love

Power

Fairy

Fantasy

Epic

Italian

Guerrino detto il Meschino Agl'alberi del Sole Alla grotta della Fata Alcina Con Faggiolino suo scudiero

Emperor

Prince

Princess

Astrologer

Fagiolino

Page

Guerrino il Meschino

Cannibal

Innkeeper

Valet

Priest

Hermit

Voice

Alcina

Maid

Snake

Queen

Father

Mother

Head of the Guard

King

Soldier

Dragon

Unexpected turn of events

Fight

Enchantment

Release of a prisoner

Talking animal

Fight with an animal

Change of social status

Statue coming to life

Parody of formal language

Nursery rhyme

Dialect

Final wedding

Guerrino Meschino

Kaspar is picking flowers in a forest for the birthday of his wife, Grete. He catches Hubertus the hunter about to murder Schneewittchen (Snow-White) following the order of Schneewittchen’s own mother, the queen Tausendschön. Kaspar convinces Hubertus to let her go and suggests to the princess that she seeks refuge at the seven dwarfs’ house. However, when the magic mirror tells the truth to the queen, the hunter denounces Kaspar and hands him over to the queen. She then tries to poison Schneewittchen twice. As she attempts it the second time, Kaspar escapes from prison and seeks refuge at the seven dwarfs' home as well. Schneewittchen passes out before his eyes, and he shakes her so much that she spits out the piece of apple that was poisoned with pesticide. Learning once again from her mirror that her daughter has survived, the queen gets so angry that she dies. Schneewittchen then takes her place on the throne and, in the final act, begins to behave as tyrannically and capriciously as her mother.

Young audiences

Fühmann Franz

Germany

Berlin

Printed

Mother-in-law

Beauty

Vanity

Haughtiness

Reign

Jail

Poison

Assassination

Doll

Denunciation

Corruption

Pesticide

Forest

Wealth

Fashion victim

Parodistic

Comical

Burlesque

German

Snow White

Hunter

General

Jailer

Guard

Mirror

Dwarf

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Intervention of the audience

Monologue

Murder on stage

Metatheatre

Address to the public

Running away

Trap

Plot twist

Confinement

Das Spiel von Kaspar, der Königin Tausendschön und der noch tausendmal schöneren Prinzessin Schneewittchen

The play about Kaspar, Queen Thousand Beauty and the thousands of times more beautiful Princess Snow White

Mademoiselle (Miss) Félicité, a foreign doctoral student, pays a visit to Morched – a master puppeteer – to buy his puppets. Her request is categorically denied because, in Morched’s eyes, puppetry is ancestral work. However, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the authorities censored traditional Iranian culture and Morched is forbidden from practicing his trade. In spite of this prohibition, he decides to use his puppets one last time to tell the love story between Pahlévâne and Sarvé-Nâz Khânome, which will soon be made impossible because of the Mullahs, who support their friend Mobârak (“a mischievous servant”). Unable to destroy his puppets, Morched – just before he dies – decides to entrust them to Mademoiselle Félicité, who will be able to keep the memory of his work alive.

Actor and puppet

France

Puppeteer

Puppets

Student

Transmission

Religion

Current events

Daily life

Bans

Political context

Death

Dramatic

Frédéric de Manassein, cover art for Mémoires d'une marionnette.

French

Journal d'une marionnette

Wife

Servant

Mobârak

Young man

Monster

Horse

Young woman

Herald

Deux Balayeurs, Torch-Ali Bak et Chirin-ali Bak (jumeaux)

Twins

Eunuch

Vehicle

Ambassador

Quelques Dignitaires civils et militaires

Dancer

Mise-en-abyme

Dialog between a puppet and its puppeteer

Comedy of language

Comic speech

Multi-voice shouting

Allusion to current political events

Versified passages

Hands visible

Apparition of a monster

Death on stage

Mémoires d'une marionnette

Memoirs of a puppet

A human narrator, Giafar the magician, addresses the audience. One of his spirits tells him that he found the pure-hearted child Giafar was looking for. Giafar needed the child to capture the powerful genie of a magic lamp. At a marketplace, the narrator recounts the story of Scheherazade to some children. Among them was Aladdin – the pure-hearted child. Giafar pretends to be his uncle, and then leads Aladdin down into an underground cave to retrieve the magic lamp. But Aladdin does not give it to him, and so Giafar abandons him in the cave. With the help of a magic ring, Aladdin goes back to his mother’s house, bringing with him many precious stones as well as the lamp. He frees the genie, who helps him and his mother earn enough money to support themselves for years. Later, as a grown-up, the Sultan agrees to let Aladdin marry his daughter, thanks to the precious stones he found in the cave. But Giafar the magician finds out that Aladdin is still alive and that he grew rich with the help of the genie. He does everything in his power to retrieve the lamp and the genie. But in the end, Aladdin defeats Giafar. The genie seals him in the lamp and Giafar is doomed to come out only to tell the story of Aladdin to children.

Armed rod marionette

Rod and string marionette

Single rod marionettes

Palermo

Magic

Treasure

Childhood

Child

Purity

Genie

Lamp

Mimmo Cuticchio in Aladino di tutti i colori

Magician

Narrator

Storyteller

Devil

Aladin

Town crier

Virticchio

Nofrio

Choir

Sultan

Vizir

Female companion

Apparition of the Devil

Apparition of a genie

Fall of a character

Flying machine

Hidden character

Avista

Dialogue between actor and puppet

Battlefield scene

Fight between an actor and a puppet

Aladino di tutti i colori

Aladdin of all colours

Charlemagne comes back victorious from the war against the Saracens, but he is displeased because several of his vassals, including Duke Beuves d’Aigremont, have refused to lend him a helping hand. On Naymes’ advice, Charlemagne sends his son Lohier to Beuves d’Aigremont to remind him of his duty. The duke is warned by a spy and prepares for Lohier’s visit. He understands his message (to obey Charlemagne or be executed for treason) as a declaration of war and kills him. Duke Aymon, brother to duke Beuves, offers his services to Charlemagne, as well as the services of his four sons, who are granted the title “knights” by the king. Charlemagne hears of the death of his son. The four brothers have mixed feelings about this news. They understand that war is imminent, but how can they fight against their uncle? Aymon decides to fight alongside Charlemagne but suggests that his son leave the castle, as he expects that the situation will change. Beuves asks for truce, then for Charlemagne’s forgiveness. He grants it to him. But Ganelon believes that Lohier’s death must be avenged, and he kills Duke Beuves. During a game of chess, Renaud, Aymon’s oldest son, quarrels with Barthelot, Charlemagne’s nephew, and kills him. Maugis, Duke Beuves’ son, advises him to hide with his brothers in a castle he had built magically in the Ardennes Forest. He gifts him his horse Bayard and the magical sword Flamberg.
Charlemagne discovers their hiding place and leaves with his army to besiege the magical castle. Duke Naymes advises him to send a message to Renaud, in which he would offer to lift the siege if he hands over his brother Richard – who has killed one of the emperor’s men. Renaud declines the offer. Hernier, cousin to Ganelon, poses as an enemy of Charlemagne. Renaud believes his disguise and offers him hospitality. At nightfall, Hernier lets Charlemagne’s army into the castle. The brothers have no choice but to flee. To cover their retreat, Maugis summons an army of demons. Charlemagne gives up on chasing the brothers. He has control over the castle, which leaves his enemy without shelter or means to survive.