Rosalinde, dressed as a male student, enters Doctor Faust’s home and gives him a book of magical spells. As a consequence, Faust believes he is making a deal with the devil, but he is in fact the victim of a trick orchestrated by the young woman, who conspired with Faust’s houseboy – Hans Wurst. When Satan comes back at midnight, he tells Faust that he has no intention of keeping his promises, and that the poor man has sold his soul for nothing. And yet, he grants him a final trial, which could save him from Hell: Faust must resist the gorgeous Helen of Troy. But he gives in the moment that she appears to him. Rosalinde then reveals that she was both the devil and the beautiful Helen: it is to her that he has devoted his body and soul. The play ends with two weddings, as Rosalinde’s servant, Lisette, is Hans Wurst’s sweetheart.

Not specified

Germany

Augsburg

Printed

Scholar

Sorcery

Madness

Humour

Professor

Gluttony

Doctor

Sophism

Devil

Joke

Morality

Woman

Seduction

Comical

Parodistic

Satirical

Title page of the play in Johann Scheible's Das Kloster (1847)

German

Faust

Hanswurst

Domestic servant

Student

Helen of Troy

Monologue

Aside

Disguise

Cross-dressing

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Sung scenes

Word for another

Chorus

Pact with the devil

Misunderstanding

Scene of recognition

Final wedding

Final song

Johann Faust oder der gefoppte Doktor

Johann Faust or the duped doctor

Pauline, a noble but penniless young woman, is about to leave her friend Anastasie and the latter’s mother, Madame Samson, who accommodated her. Madame Samson informs Anastasie that an important visitor, the count de Morland, a rich man with a title, wants to buy their property. She specifies that he will arrive incognito. Anastasie, worried, fears that the count will covet Pauline. Her mother reassures her and says that her dowry of 300 000 francs is a lot more valuable than Pauline’s title of nobility. Soon after, Monsieur Sylvestre, a dance instructor, arrives to give a lesson. Madame Samson mistakes him for the count de Morland and begins a serious conversation with him, which puzzles Monsieur Sylvestre; he is unaware of the misunderstanding. However, he begins to take Madame Samson’s flattering words seriously. When she sees this “so-called count” from the window, Pauline quickly realises that it is in fact her dance instructor. At this moment, the real count de Morland arrives. Pauline welcomes him, and he explains that he met her mother in Paris and that she talked about selling the castle. As he is trying to negotiate discreetly, he chose not to reveal his identity—to avoid overpaying. Meanwhile, Monsieur Samson, puzzled by the odd behaviour of the so-called count, comments on his only talking – what is more, with great familiarity – about actors of the Opera. The real count is still incognito and takes part in the conversation between Pauline and Monsieur Samson; he mentions having heard that Monsieur de Morland will soon marry the daughter of an old friend of his father. At the same time, Madame Samson reveals that she already knew the real identity of the anonymous visitor (without specifying his name). Monsieur Sylvestre, still lost, is surprised to learn that a wedding involving him is still planned. Madame de Brennemur (Pauline’s mother) finally arrives and introduces her future son-in-law, the count de Morland, who wants to marry her daughter. Madame Samson introduces Monsieur Sylvestre as her future son-in-law too, also calling him “Monsieur de Morland”. At this moment, the truth comes out. In the end, Madame Samson comes up with an arrangement: the count can buy the castle for a reasonable price, on condition that this over-the-top story remains a secret.

String marionette

Young audiences

Bernard Laure

France

Castle

Bourgeoisie

Arranged marriage

Happy marriage

French

Father

Suitor

Count

Teacher

Lady

Daughter

Situation comedy

Plot twist

Une méprise

A misunderstanding

Wagner hires Casper to serve his master—Doctor Faust. Destitute and crippled with debts, the latter makes a deal with the devil Mefisdofles: he will make him rich by helping him invent printing. In return, Mefisdofles demands that Faust sacrifice his parents and his wife. Faust murders his father, who has come to blame him for the death of his mother (she died of grief when she learnt that her son made a deal with the Devil). Meanwhile, Mefisdofles poisons Faust’s wife. Then Mefisdofles takes Faust and Casper to the court of Parma. But the courtiers envy the famous scholar and conspire against him: Mefisdofles helps him flee. Casper is sent to Hell, but he is soon let out. Everyone meets in Wittenberg: Faust repents, but he is then seduced by Helehne, whom Mefisdofles introduced to him; she changes into a skeleton when he tries to kiss her. At midnight, Faust is doomed and Casper, now a night watchman, marries the market gardener Anabakuduh, whom he meets in the street after curfew.

All audiences

Bille Johann August

Greiz

Typewriting

Poverty

Necromancy

People and history

Printing

Debt

Parricide

Matricide

Feminicide

Perlike

Skittles

Poison

Dragon

Wittenberg

Death

Nightwatchman

Tragic

Farcical

Title page of the manuscript of Johann Georg Bille's Docter Faust

Kasperl

Christoph Wagner

Voice

Angel

Fury

Mephistopheles

Duke of Parma

Duchess of Parma

Minister

Neighbour (female)

Lazzi

Song

Off-stage voice

Dilemma

Apparition

Macaronism

Repetition of a word

Comic equivocation

Murder on stage

Echoing lines

Flying machine

Brawl

Metamorphosis

Story

Bawdy equivocation

Docter Faust

Doctor Faustus

Mr. Casperl, a wealthy man of private income, has an appointment with Lieutenant Säbelmaier and the wife of the secretary Federspitzen for an excursion to Lake Starnberg near Munich, but his barber comes too late and he has to leave in a hurry to catch his train, which had been announced late. In the second part of the play, the boat of the three excursionists is wrecked by a sudden storm on the lake. Säbelmaier and Mrs. Federspitzen probably managed to save themselves. Casperl has been living like Robinson for eight days in a deserted forest by the lake. He finally meets a sheep with whom he can talk about philosophy, because it is in fact the reincarnation of a professor and living proof of the truth of metempsychosis. But they argue and the sheep flees in the face of another coming storm. A hunter then finds Casperl passed out and wants to bring him to justice as a poacher, but ends up recognising him as the man who disappeared eight days ago, and Casperl concludes by recommending that the audience take the steamboat instead.

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Manuscript

Train

Railway

Train station

Independently wealthy person

Military

Secretary

Civil servant

Barber

Robinson

Shipwreck

Beer

Hunger

Lamb

Sheep

Metempsychosis

Reincarnation

Philosophy

Hinduism

Pantheism

Poacher

Loneliness

Burlesque

Humorous

Die Parthie nach Starnberg; Herr Casperl als Robinson

Die Parthie nach Starnberg

Lieutenant

Hunter

Dream

Unexpected turn of events

Talking animal

Criticism of actors' theatre

Address to the public

Aria

Argument

Caricature

Philosophical dialogue

Casperl als Robinsohn

Casperl as Robinson

In Bavaria, Kaspar learns that Professor Johann Christoph Gottsched is conspiring against him. He goes to Leipzig to work as a servant, under a false name, in the house of Gottsched and his friend, the actress and theatre director Caroline Neuber. During a performance, Caroline Neuber symbolically banishes Kaspar’s character from the stage and dismisses the actor who successfully played him, Silvio. But Gottsched's ward, Lucinde, is in love with the actor: the two young people defy Gottsched's dismissal and marry in secret. In search of a new actor to play the comic role in a play by the student Gotthold Ephraim, Caroline Neuber offers the position to Kaspar, who declines and then reveals his true identity. The actress breaks up with Gottsched and hires Silvio again, as well as Lucinde. Kaspar is arrested by the Bavarian policeman Stadelmann, who has set out after him, but is finally released by Gotthold Ephraim and is praised by the entire audience.

Glove-puppet

Schmidt-Ziegler Tilla

Leipzig

Conspiring

Bavaria

Literary criticism

Theatre

Reformation

Impossible love

Rationality

Women's condition

Pigtail

Wedding

Puppenkomödie aus dem alten Leipzig

Mrs Kasperl

Policeman

Johann Christoph Gottsched

Neuberin

Cook

Pasteur

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Metatheatre

Love story

Versified passages

Dance

Kaspar stirbt nicht!

Kaspar does not die!

Pasqual, a schoolteacher from the village, teaches the cleaning lady Aldonza how to read. They read from Don Quixote and play out several chapters using everyday objects they find around them.

Shadow theatre

Object theatre

Spain

Cullera

Valencia

Electronic text

Adventure

Literacy class

Reading

School

Didactic

Dramatic

A scene from Puri Fariza and Pol Paul's show Les lettres de Quichotte (Quixote's letters)