The Wiseman Weitschuss has built a rocket to go to Mars. When Kasperl messes with the buttons, he accidentally causes the rocket to take off. He arrives on the red planet, where he teaches German to Martian Zweikopf, who brings him before the king. The latter wants to inspect the rocket and, pushing the wrong button, flies to Earth. The king is treated as an exotic creature and is exhibited at the zoo while the rocket returns to Mars. Kasperl escapes the vengeance of the Martians and returns to his parents.

String marionette

Not specified

Schuster Ludwig

Germany

Printed

Science fiction

Rocket

Glory

Mars Planet

Curiosity

Exoticism

Otherness

Communication

Journey

Hazard

Hunger

Accident

Couch

Fall

Fantasy

Didactic

German

Marionettenspiel in sechs Aufzügen

Kasperl

Father

Mother

Engineer

Tamer

Martian

Minister

Monster

Imaginary language

Plot twist

Comic equivocation

Flying machine

Apparition of a monster

Falling from hangers

Fake death

Die Fahrt zum Mars

Le voyage sur Mars

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.

Young audiences

Hoke Werner

Leipzig

Criminal

Money

Capitalism

Rivalry

Corruption

Science

German Democratic Republic (GDR)

America

Debauchery

Cabaret

Seduction

Racism

Satirical

Front cover of the collection Drei Puppenspiele

Satirisches Puppenspiel für große Kinder

Gangster

Policeman

Brawl

Trap

Running away

Macaronism

Aside

Bawdy equivocation

Die Amerikareise

The trip to America

Kasperl had a rocket built for him, but he has yet to pay for it as he wants to test it first. A Gerichtsvollzieher (Bailiff) has to seize the rocket while the Flughafenwächter (Airport security guard) is about to sell it to another client. Kasperl fools them and, despite Gretl’s protest, he hops on the rocket and flies to the Moon. There, he encounters the Mondmann (Moon man), his wife, and other characters. A fight starts because the Mondmann wants to get rid of Kasperl: he is afraid that his star will become a tourist destination. Kasperl goes back to Earth and is interviewed on his trip. To pay for his journey, he suggests displaying the rocket in a museum.

Die Fahrt zum Mars

Marionettenspiel in sechs Aufzügen

Die Amerikareise

Satirisches Puppenspiel für große Kinder

Kasperl Larifaris Mondfahrt

Ein Handpuppenspiel