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

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.

Hoke Werner

Leipzig

Criminal

Rocket

Money

Capitalism

Rivalry

Corruption

Science

German Democratic Republic (GDR)

Debauchery

Cabaret

Seduction

Racism

Satirical

Front cover of the collection Drei Puppenspiele

Satirisches Puppenspiel für große Kinder

Gangster

Policeman

Fake death

Brawl

Trap

Running away

Aside

Bawdy equivocation

Die Amerikareise

The trip to America

Convinced that there are people on the Moon, Pulcinella wonders where they are hiding. The Moon invites him to go to her on a funicular ship. He meets the lunatic Beniamino, who explains that everyone is terrorised and has been hiding since the American astronaut came. This astronaut claims that the Moon belongs to him, and he wants to kill Pulcinella. But Pulcinella sends him back to earth with a blow of a stick. Beniamino asks Pulcinella to look after a dead grandfather, who turns out to be a very beautiful baby. Death convinces Pulcinella to be his baby and sings him lullabies so that he falls asleep, but Pulcinella wakes up and fights Him. A monstrous dog plays with Pulcinella, but he is frightened when the cloned ewe Dolly bites him. Pulcinella kills Dolly and, as a reward, Beniamino offers him his wife Carlotta. Pulcinella chooses instead to marry their daughter Teresina, and he goes back to earth with her.