Kasperl leaves for America on a boat, but is swallowed by a whale that spits him out on an island inhabited by cannibals. They salt him and smear him in whale fat. Attracted by the smell of fat, an eagle kidnaps Kasperl on the verge of being eaten and takes him back to Europe. Kasperl manages to escape and meets a horseman who takes him back to his family. The play ends as a prologue with an invitation to take a seat in front of the puppet theatre for the start of the main performance.

Shadow theatre

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Boat

Navigation

Navy

America

Shipwreck

Fish

Leviathan

Unknown land

Island

Sausage

Beer

Thirst

Hunger

Cannibalism

Savage

Kidnapping

Horse

Family

Fantasy

Comical

German

Kasperl

Baleine

Cannibal

Eagle

Horserider

Mrs Kasperl

Child

Monologue

Play in verse

Chorus

Sung scenes

Macaronism

Unexpected turn of events

Puppet theatre within the theatre

Kasperl bei den Menschenfressern

Kasperl among the anthropophagi

Gnafron is crippled with debts and flees to Madagascar with Guignol, but they board on a military ship and are forced to become soldiers. When they land in Madagascar, Gnafron is kidnapped by the Hovas, who believe him to be a general. They take him to their queen. Their own general having been captured by the French, they want Gnafron to replace him.
Guignol goes to Gnafron’s rescue. He enters the capital and tells the Queen that the French army is approaching. She agrees to surrender because she has fallen in love with Guignol. To avoid the watchful eye of the Prime Minister – who happens to be her husband – she meets Guignol in the main square of the town. There, the soldiers are training under the lead of the new general, who will be in a position to help them because he is French. Guignol therefore finds Gnafron. He lets him on his plan to seduce the queen and conquer the island. Gnafron agrees to help him. When he sees the Prime Minister approaching, he warns Guignol and the Queen. The Prime Minister tries to trigger a rebellion against the colonisers. He captures Guignol and plans to execute him. To save time and to free Guignol, the Queen postpones the execution to the following day. The French army walks into town. The Prime Minister asks the Hovas to fight for him. But as they are led by Gnafron, they attack the Prime Minister instead, and he flees. The Queen is freed. Guignol becomes Prime Minister; Gnafron marries Madame Dumont, who is expecting a child from a Hova man; and the French general announces that the mission was a success.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

France

Lyon

Manuscript

Creditor

Madagascar

Army

Metis

Colonialism

Love

Racism

Treason

Female warrior

Dramatic

Tony Tardy, Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

French

Voyage de Guignol et Gnafron à Madagascar

Guignol

Gnafron

Prime Minister

Leader

Hova

King's messenger

Sergeant

Captain

General

Caporal

Queen

Tripe maker (woman)

Grocer

Pork butcher

Butcher

Landlord

Spy (woman)

Warrior (female)

Soldier

Misunderstanding

Song

Character wearing heavy makeup

Apotheosis

Cross-dressing

Les Aventures de Guignol et Gnafron à Tananarive

The Adventures of Guignol and Gnafron in Tananarive

Captain Caricknagat, heading a ship of pirates, beats and expels Joe Miles since he made a move on his wife. Miles promises vengeance. The Captain and his team disembark on the shore of an island to find fresh water. They are attacked by its inhabitants. Captain asks a part of his troupes to bring his wife, 'The Lolita,' to his ship while he fights with the natives. Upon return to the ship, however, she is nowhere to be found, and the majority of his men have perished in the battle. Two days later, James Broad, the boatswain, returns. He has escaped and carries a message that The Lolita etched into a piece of tree bark. She writes that her body will be burnt and her head hung at the entrance of a cave. She asks her husband to recover her head, to put it in a box, and to bury it once back on their island (The Isle of Plumes). The Captain sends the last of his men to retrieve the remains of his wife, but it's a fluke, and only the Captain and James survive. The two pirates wait for nightfall to finally steal back the skull and the vessel before returning home. James dies of thirst as Captain nears the shore. Joe Miles, who is waiting for Captain on the island since being expelled from the ship, kills him for vengeance and steals his treasure. When he opens the chest, however, he finds only a severed head.

Toy theatre

Ireland

Strete

Revenge

Death

Piracy

Last will and testament

Relic

Black comedy

Humorous

Jack B. Yeats, The Scourge of the Gulph, 1911.

English

Or Fierce Revenge

Pirate

Wife

Narrator

Gunshot

Murder on stage

Wandering

Plot twist

The Scourge of The Gulph

Le Fouet du Golfe

Blind Woman is lying on her bed, which is on top of her house, and narrating her unsuccessful love stories to Doctor Fell. Her tale lasts for a few days. It ends when the curtain falls and a Marionette comes to announce that the Theatre Director found a way to make her stop her storytelling by gifting her a ring which grants one wish. Blind Woman declares to Doctor Fell that she wants revenge on Jupiter. Thanks to the ring, she turns into a Sphinx to force Jupiter to surrender to her power by asking him riddles. She asks Doctor Fell to dress up as a nanny. Jupiter is sailing at sea, dressed as a ship’s captain. He receives a call from Mama Ops, his mother, who wishes him to meet a smart woman and lets him know that she revealed his location to Blind Woman. Jupiter is distraught and reaches the boat of Blind Boy, Cockatrice, and Columbus, who also decide to dress up to mislead Blind Woman. The latter awaits Jupiter on a dock, under the guise of a Sphinx. She is persuaded that he disguised himself as a woman to get away from her. Jupiter, as a captain, lands with Blind-Boy, Cockatrice, and Columbus, who cross-dress as the Three Graces. Blind Woman, who thinks Cockatrice to be Jupiter, asks him a riddle and snatches his veil. Cockatrice appears, wearing a nightgown and makeup as a lady. Blind Woman faints into Doctor Fell’s arms while the others take this opportunity to get back on the ship and flee. 
When she comes to her senses, she meets a Watchman and tries to trick him with a riddle as well, while the curtain falls.