The fisherman's daughter Lisi and the young bird-catcher Wastl live by a lake in Germany. They offer hospitality to the painter Wilhelm, who has just returned from Italy. The short play ends with a song to nature and joy.

Not specified

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Manuscript

Fishing

Bird

Nature

Painting

Artist

Picturesque

Countryside

Birdcatcher

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Bucolic

Forest

Wood

Happiness

Painter

Music

Italy

Journey

Hospitality

Childhood

Lyrical

German

Allegory

Monologue

Metatheatre

Song

Final song

Am See

By the lake

Incarcerated for his debts, Casperl is freed from prison by a small child, Capricerl, who is the guide of Fortuna, the blind goddess. While being pursued, Casperl finds refuge with Klaus, a hermit who reveals himself to be the Devil. However, Fortuna bet against Bios, the genie of life, that her gifts could make someone happy: Casperl will be her guinea pig. She repels the Devil and makes Casperl win the lottery. But the newly rich man is tyrannical and angry to the point of becoming sick. He goes so far as to miss the simple and modest life he once had, and curses his fortune. The goddess understands her defeat and brings him back to his normal self. Casperl goes to the inn.

String marionette

Young audiences

Printed

Despair

Thirst

Destiny

Debt

Slap

Blindness

Widower

Hot air balloon

Jail

Philosophy

Grief

Breaking out

Latin Mythology

Bingo

Tavern

Marvelous

Burlesque

Kasperl im Schuldturm

Génie

Déesse de la Chance

Kasperl

Aubergiste

Vieillard

Hermit

Devil

Police officer

Verschiedene Erscheinungen und Verwandlungen

Apparition

Off-stage voices

Flying machine

Devil's apparition

Versified passages

Pact with the devil

Word for another

Thunderbolt

Chorus

Story

Metamorphosis

Transforming scenery

Address to the public

Das Glück ist blind

Luck is blind

Following a brawl in the tavern, Kasperl tells his wife that he is becoming a misanthrope and is withdrawing from the world. He also leaves the role of the police commissioner. His misfortunes lead him to the European residence of the Egyptian prince Tamino and his wife Pamina, which is also the retreat of the aging magician Sarastro. The Moor in the service of the Queen of the Night, Monostatist (the Monostatos of The Magic Flute), helps Kasperl, who presents himself as a learned traveller, to break into the palace: he hopes that he will stir up trouble. The hungry Kasperl proves to be an extremely rude host, and the frequent visits of the Queen of the Night, which plunge the scene into darkness each time, add to the confusion. Sarastro is nevertheless prepared to initiate the so-called scholar into the mysteries of Freemasonry, but Kasperl mainly amuses himself by banging the gong and then stamping his foot on the lodge master's table: Sarastro forbids him to do so, they quarrel and Kasperl knocks him out, then runs away with the protection of the Queen of the Night. Pursued by Tamino's lion, he is narrowly saved by the hunter Thomerl, who shoots the lion. They then return home with their trophy, much to the amazement of the police. The Queen of the Night appears to wish the audience good night.

Opera

Freemasonry

Magic

Mother-in-law

Egypt

Orientalism

Beer

Breakfast

Moor

Black

Slave

Lion

Bureaucracy

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Misanthropy

Classical music

Hermeticism

Esotericism

Parodistic

La Reine de la nuit

Dame de la suite de la reine de la nuit

Monostatos

Le Commissaire

Thomerl

Un lion docile

Talking animal

Instrumental tune

Light effects

Casperl in der Zauberflöte

Kasperl in the Magic Flute

Don Juan tries to seduce Donna Anna, but they are spied on by her confessor: An argument ensues, after which Don Juan is carried off to hell by the statue of the Commander. The Devil returns in the guise of Donna Anna to take away the confessor, who has set his sights on the young woman. Then the Devil takes the guise of the confessor to seduce Donna Anna. Virtue, in the guise of a hideous woman, tries to warn her off, but Donna Anna still prefers to give herself to the Devil. The Fool concludes the scene by chasing away Virtue and inviting the audience, for this evening, to enjoy the pleasures of love.

Shadow theatre

Bernus Alexander von

Seduction

Morality

Damnation

Femme fatale

Vice

Secession

Art nouveau

Satirical

Eine moralische Scene mit einem unmoralischen Nachspiel

Don Juan

Anna

Priest

Stone Guest

Virtue

Fool

Epilogue

Spying scene

Appearance

Disguise

The poet meets Kasperl in the street. He proposes to him to attend his puppet theatre, leaving him alone in front of the puppet booth. The first character to emerge is Hanswurst, but he fails to amuse Kasperl, who kills him by hitting him with a stick. Next, an allegory portraying Art enters the stage and offers him fruits. Kasperl does not find them to his liking and spills the garbage can on the poor woman's head. Finally, Death comes for him, and Kasperl knocks his head off with a stick. The furious poet returns to chastise him, but Kasperl has had enough and beats him to death.

Glove-puppet

Blümel Otto

Poetry

Gluttony

Bavaria

Radish

Sausage

Beauty

Symbolism

George, Stefan Anton

Poète

Hanswurst

Arts

La Mort

Comical regional accent

Parody of formal language

Dialogue of the deaf

Puppet theatre within the theatre

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Blow-with-a-stick

Murder on stage

Der Dichter

The poet

The old streets of Madrid sing, then comes the Mayor who announces the opening of a new street. The old streets protest and pretend to be the more beautiful ones, but the Mayor calms them down. Three thieves appear and vanish as they see a Guard with a cage. The Mayor comes again and suggest to go to the sea-shore, where sailors sing a serenade, then he invites everyone to go to the official opening of the new street. The performance ends with a final song.

Nino Pozzo (Matteo Pozzo)

Verona

Typing with handwritten annotations

Zarzuela

Madrid

Official opening

City

Spain

Comical

Nino Pozzo, La Gran Via (Cover page).

Italian

Knight

Thief

Mayor

Choir

Street

Prison guard

Dance

Prosopopoeia

Aria

Set change in view of audience

La Gran Via

The Main Road

Through various scenes that follow one another without necessarily being linked, The text evokes the deportation of Jews to the concentration camps through a poetic diversions. The common thread running through the entire play is the character of the little girl, about seven years old, who meets different characters, human or not: a Man who shrinks the sky, a Little Pile of Ashes, a Train, a Chimney. Each character appears as a metaphor charged with meaning, first and foremost the Little Pile of Ashes, which materializes in a macabre and at the same time "light" way the ashes of the victims burned in the ovens. At the end of the play, the little girl, who has lost both her innocence and her life force, also disappears, swallowed up by the little pile of ashes.