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.

Glove-puppet

Eckart Walther

Moon

Tourism

Colonialism

Space

Crater

Space flight

Theatre at school

Suggestion of scenery for the second act of Kasperl Larifaris Mondfahrt

Ein Handpuppenspiel

Mrs Kasperl

Court usher

Guardian

Journalist

Pilot

Address to the public

Argument

Monologue

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Kasperl Larifaris Mondfahrt

Kasperl Larifari's trip to the Moon

The Moon Man finds himself on Earth after having secretly travelled in the astronauts' rocket returning from a mission to his planet. He meets Kasperl's grandmother, whom he asks to take control of the rocket to take him back to the moon. When Kasperl and Seppl notice that he is missing, they fly to his rescue in another rocket. The Moon Man wants the grandmother to stay with him all the time to cook for him, which she refuses. When they arrive on the Moon, Kasperl and Seppl trick the Moon Man into thinking they are Moon Calves and then blind him with the light of a torch. Kasperl, Seppl and the grandmother all flee with the rockets, leaving the Moon Man relieved to be alone.

Schultheis Ole

Cosmic journey

Loneliness

Rescue

Kidnapping

Animals, Mythical

Ein Kasperlstück

Seppl

Grandmother

Inhabitants on the moon

Dialogue with the audience

Imitation

Kasperl und der Mann vom Mond

Kasperl et l'Homme de la Lune

Mouse Armstrong and his friend, the mechanic Mitch, are listening to a radio special about mankind's first moon landing. Mouse regrets that no one knows the truth: she was the first person to go to the moon, but the authorities named the human astronaut after him. To make it clear how she achieved this feat, she re-enacts the events with objects made for the purpose. We learn that Armstrong did research in Washington, where she was greeted by an old mouse who said that the history of mouse flying was ancient. Armstrong manages to get into space despite having her rocket plans stolen by a secret police agent, and ends up proving to the mice that the Moon, contrary to their belief, is not cheese.