One day, little Agustí decides to grow a tree and plants a seed. But another child, Fidel, swaps the seed with another and the resulting tree produces a very special fruit: it contains the genie Eugeni, who punishes Fidel by beating him with a stick. Fidel asks for forgiveness and the genie throws confetti and sweets to the audience.

Glove-puppet

Young audiences

Lanuza Empar de

Spain

Valencia

Printed

Tree

Ecology

Environment

Tale

Seed

Candy

Theatre at school

Child

Mean trick

Punishment

Didactic

Fantasy

Catalan

Genie

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Apparition of a genie

Un arbre genial

An amazing tree

Miséria est un vieux forgeron qui passe ses journées à travailler le fer. Son seul plaisir est de prendre soin de son noyer. Un jour, São Pedro (Saint Pierre) vient lui rendre visite, demandant un fer à cheval. Comme il ne lui en reste plus, Miséria lui propose de prendre celui qui est un porte-bonheur en argent. Quelques temps plus tard, São Pedro retourne chez Miséria, disant qu’il peut demander un souhait. Miséria demande que ceux qui grimpent dans son noyer pour voler des noix finissent prisonniers de l’arbre. 
Quand la Mort arrive pour chercher Miséria, il fait un pacte avec le diable, avec lequel il gagne 20 ans. Au bout de 20 ans, la Mort revient. A ce moment, Miséria lui demande un dernier souhait : qu’elle grimpe à l’arbre pour lui chercher une noix. Ainsi, la Mort devient prisonnière du noyer. Tant qu'elle est prisonnière de l'arbre, le soleil ne se couche plus, il n’y a plus de vent, les feuilles restent immobiles ; le monde s’est arrêté. Miséria finit pas libérer la Mort à condition qu’elle lui promette la vie éternelle. La Mort accepte, mais le prévient qu’il regrettera son souhait. La pièce finit avec le vieux forgeron qui travaille le fer, se plaignant de son sort : son arbre qui était la raison de son existence vient de mourir et il reste condamné à la vie éternelle.

Rod puppet

Adults

Portugal

Porto

Electronic text

Death

Old age

Deal with the Devil

Desires

Human condition

Eternal punishment

Time

Immortality

Philosophical tale

Tragic

Comical

Dramatic

Miséria (Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, 1991)

Portuguese

Old man

Blacksmith

Devil

Saint Peter

Voice

Apparition of a Saint

Narrator

Apparition of Death

Song

Peasant accent

Change of voice

Smoke

Flying character

Music

Miséria

Misère

A man named Précair has just lost his job. Sitting on a public bench, he suddenly sees a huge branch fall from a tree. Another day, in the same place, Précair's left arm falls off, then his right. To help him, a kind man takes him to an arm merchant. But as Précair has little money, he leaves the shop with two pieces of wood instead of arms. His wife Zalou leaves him. Précair, now made entirely of wood, runs after work, which constantly eludes him. Hired as a flower pot during a social cocktail party, Précair is treated like an insignificant object, then thrown out onto the street. He loses his head (which is picked up by a dog), then his speech. Précair, now with a dog's head, behaves like one and is taken in by homeless people who are victims of a slum landlord. A dog with a human head (Précair's) arrives and sniffs Précair lying on the ground. Précair stands up, regaining his human appearance. He follows the dog up a long staircase that leads him to the middle of the sky.