Two rats, Monsieur le Rat Deschamps (literally, Mister the Rat From-the-countryside), an elector, and Monsieur le Rat Deville (literally, Mister the Rat From-the-city) - candidate in the election, attend a dinner party organised to secure votes. Deschamps questions Deville on a number of subjects, and especially on his oratorical skills. Deville admits to not being a real orator; he reveals that he only knows how to imitate the voice of others and immediately illustrates his abilities. However, Deschamps questions his honesty and declares: “Ayant trop de voix, vous n’aurez pas la mienne” (“You have too many voices, you will not have mine”; in French, “voix” means both “voices” and “vote”). Deville does not despair and, addressing the audience, asks for support.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

France

Paris

Vichy

Printed

Elections

Corruption

Dinner

Meals

Comical

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, Les Deux Rats, 1866.

French

Member of parliament

Elector

Play in verse

Aside

Aria

Character represented in animal form

Imitation

Address to the public

Instrumental tune

Allusion to current political events

Les Deux rats

The Two Rats

Thanks to a new type of telescope that brought the Moon at one metre, the astronomer Télescopos and his servant Babylas, the watchman of the Observatory of Monaco, made a breakthrough; they end up on the Moon and are unable to leave. They meet strange and fantastic people, either allegorical or taken from recent events. As the Moon is waning, the residents have less and less space and want to go back to Earth. Télescopos, Babylas’s master, builds a new telescope to accomplish that. The play ends with a cellist reciting verses as payment for the journey back to Earth.

Silhouette

Shadow theatre

Adults

Principality of Monaco

Monte Carlo

Strike

Invention

Telescope

Women's condition

Divorce

Gender equality

Government

Social issue

Shelter

Colonialism

Moon

Parliament

Decadence

Astronomy

Psychological novel

Pantheon

Celebrity

Tourism

Fashion phenomenon

Fantasy

Revue fantaisiste en 3 actes

Astronomer

Domestic servant

Writer

Savage

Guardian

Singer

Actress

Singer (female)

Cellist

Personification

Ballet

Caricature

Current affairs

As-tu vu la lune, mon gas ?

Have you seen the moon, mate?

Invited to the international convention of handymen in Chicago, Dr. Haase builds a rocket to go there. Two gangsters witness the landing and try to steal the rocket, but Haase manages to flee and goes to see Turnip, the organiser of the convention; the convention is actually an excuse invented to attract the German scientist. Turnip looks for ways to corrupt Haase, his daughter Elvyra tries to seduce him, and the gangster Bill tries to kill him. With the help of the black servant Ann, Haase manages to flee with the rocket and, at the same time, saves Ann’s son Tom from a lynching.

Young audiences

Hoke Werner

Germany

Leipzig

Criminal

Rocket

Money

Capitalism

Rivalry

Science

German Democratic Republic (GDR)

America

Debauchery

Cabaret

Seduction

Racism

Front cover of the collection Drei Puppenspiele

German

Satirisches Puppenspiel für große Kinder

Gangster

Policeman

Fake death

Brawl

Trap

Running away

Macaronism

Bawdy equivocation

Die Amerikareise

The trip to America

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.

Fühmann Franz

Berlin

Mother

Mother-in-law

Beauty

Vanity

Haughtiness

Power

Reign

Jail

Poison

Assassination

Doll

Denunciation

Pesticide

Forest

Wealth

Fashion victim

Parodistic

Burlesque

Queen

Snow White

Hunter

General

Jailer

Valet

Guard

Mirror

Dwarf

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Intervention of the audience

Monologue

Murder on stage

Metatheatre

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