When the Albufera of Valencia was still only an immense lake, a dragon appeared there and terrorised the population. The terrible beast found pleasure in eating people. Neither the militia, nor the Church, nor the governor himself were capable of defeating the obdurate dragon. Only Salomon (Solomon), a Jewish merchant, wanted to fight the dragon, but he was unjustly poisoned in the end. When Salomon was finally freed, he killed the dragon using a ruse and the people applauded him.

Direct Manipulation Bunraku-type Puppetry

Glove-puppet

String marionette

Shadow theatre

Young audiences

Spain

Valencia

Printed

Legend

Dragon

Hero

Irony

Cunning

Fantastic

Heroic

Satirical

Ironic

Cover page of Manuel Cubedo's El drac

Catalan

El drac de l'Albufera

Child

Granddaugther

Merchant (man)

Soldier

Narrator

Merchant (woman)

Captain

Festival organiser

Priest

Sacristan

Guard

Governor

Talking animal

Intervention of the audience

Children games

Theatre within the theatre

Song

Storyteller

El drac

The dragon

The work tells the legendary story of the city of Elx (Elche), which is surrounded by palm forests, and of an angry dragon who sees his natural kingdom threatened by the development of the city beyond its walls. To prevent this, the dragon kidnaps the girls of the town and, by means of a spell, turns them into slender palm trees. An improvised hero puts an end to this curse: with the help of a fairy, he reaches an agreement between the dragon and the inhabitants, so that they preserve the palm grove forever.