Having graduated from the University of Heidelberg, Anselme has become an assistant at old Hans’s toyshop, in Nuremberg, in order to grow closer to his employer’s daughter, Wilhelmine, whom he secretly loves. The son of the adviser Paykul also courts her. The Jew Mardochée sells them dolls which look like little women sleeping, and he says that they come from the Moon. In the evening, when Anselme is alone, Queen Lunaria and her companions wake up and tell him that they have come from the Moon. Anselme protects them from the monster Angramanyou, genie of underground fire, by delivering toys to him instead. Spiders threaten the women of the Moon, then different objects (household utensils, balloons) become animated, introduce themselves one after the other and dance. Anselme confesses his love to Lunaria, who grows and reveals herself to be Wilhelmine, the two women having been mistaken for one another in a dream. With Hans’s permission, Anselme and Wilhelmine decide to get married.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

France

Nohant

Printed

Moon

Dream

Impossible love

Doll

Genie

Sleep

Shyness

Comical

Fantasy

Fantastic

Frontispiece for the volume containing the play Jouets et Mystères

French

Merchant (man)

Baroness

Young girl

Maid

Queen

Spider

Balai

Plumeau

Brosse

Balloon

Monologue

Love rivalry

Fight

Engulfment

Ballet

Dance

One character replaced by another

Plot twist

Apparition

Apparition of a genie

Chorus

Prosopopoeia

Jouets et mystères

Toys and Mysteries

The bishop Simplicius invites Chrysogonus, the nephew of the governor of Patras, for lunch. A gorgeous young woman, Luce, appears to him and asks for his protection: she has vowed to remain a virgin and fled from her father, who wanted to force her to marry. She is alone for a short while, and she reveals that she is Lucifer. Simplicius is flustered: he invites Luce to have lunch with them, and falls in love with her. He appeals to the apostle saint André (Saint Andrew) to stop him from giving in to temptation. Le Pauvre (Poor Man) appears and asks to have lunch with them. Luce agrees to let him, if he can answer three riddles. Le Pauvre answers and reveals that she is Lucifer, and that he is Saint André. While Lucifer disappears in Hell, Saint André sits down to eat with Simplicius and Chrysogonus.

Not specified

Paris

Vegetarianism

Glutton

Charity

Lust

Devotion

Chastity

Temptation

Virginity

Devil

Religious

Lyrical

Apostle

Bishop

Servant

Poor

Saint Andrew

Address to the public

Aside

Metamorphosis

Disguise

Change of voice

La Dévotion à saint André

The Devotion to Saint Andrew

After trying to rape Cécile (Cecilia), the Roi (King) wants to force Cécile to marry him. Gaymas, the Roi’s partner in depravity, is tasked with telling Cécile about the marriage, and letting her know that the man she loves, Valérien (Valerian), has been banished from the kingdom. The Anges (Angels) comfort Cécile and say that they will protect her. Cécile tells Valérien that she is a Christian and has taken an oath to remain a virgin. She makes Saint Michel (Saint Michael) appear, but Valérien cannot see him because he is a pagan. She sends him to wash the body of a leper; in the name of the Christian God, she gives him a “holy kiss”, after which he will be able to see angels. When he is back from his mission, Valérien can see Saint Michel. Like Cécile, he agrees to forsake the pleasures of the flesh; the two of them are preparing to become martyrs. When the Roi learns that they are Christians, they sentence them to death; however, he refuses to rape Cécile before – which Gaymas advised him to do. The Roi and Gaymas try to come up with torture methods for them, but Gaymas accidentally dies, and only Valérien is tortured. The Roi confesses his love to Cécile and promises that he will let her remain a Christian, even though it is against Roman law. But she demands to be sentenced like Valérien. As the Roi, furious, is about to rape her, Valérien appears, covered in blood; the ground opens and swallows the Roi up. The Geôlier (Gaoler) takes Cécile, to send her to the big cats of the circus. She reappears with Valérien; she is transfigured and surrounded by two angels.

Martyrdom

Eternal punishment

Promise

Rape

Carnal love

Renunciation

Torture

Torment

Tragic

Saint Michael

Angel

Saint Cecilia

Proconsul

Jailer

Spectacular turn of events

Play in verse

Ascent to heaven

La Légende de sainte Cécile

The Legend of Saint Cecilia

Iacchos (Iacchus) and Minos welcome the souls of the dead in the Underworld. Hadès has just abducted Perséphone, Iacchos’s daughter, and threatens to rape her. But Perséphone takes a solemn oath never to marry him if he forces her to. In the world of the living, peasants deplore their harvest, which Déméter’s anger has dried. Daiphantus, Tellis’s father, mourns his son, who has just died; he was about to marry Lysilla. Looking for her daughter Perséphone, Déméter learns that she was abducted by Hadès and decides to bring her back. Hadès appears; he has been transformed by love and repents. Moved by this change, Perséphone agrees to marry him, if Zeus lets her. Déméter hears her and reproaches her for her decision; because of this, Hadès gives up on his plan to marry Perséphone. Iacchos manages to pacify Déméter, who agrees to let Zeus decide. She comes back to the world of the living; the harvests have been miraculously saved and everyone is celebrating. Tellis comes back from the Underworld and announces that, from now on, the souls of the righteous—including his own—will go to an enchanting place. Zeus appears, surrounded by Justice and Pitié (Mercy), and announces his decision: Perséphone will stay with Déméter six months a year, and spend the other six in the kingdom of Hadès.

Anger

Death

Grief

Eros

Repentance

Hell

Soul

Greek mythology

Zeus

Hades

Iacchus

Demeter

Persephone

Justice

Mercy

Minos

Choir

Deus ex machina

Les Mystères d'Eleusis

The Eleusian Mysteries

Faggiolino and Sganapino are two miners on their way to work. Two burglars break into their house but, finding nothing to steal, set fire to it. When Faggiolino discovers this, he wants to commit suicide, but his good Genie descends on a cloud to tell him that the whole court of Granada is in mourning because Aurora, the King's daughter, has been turned into a shadow by the evil Genie. To stop this transformation, Faggiolino must travel to the Sun and the Moon to bring the king two talismans: a crown made of a sunbeam and a cloak studded with stars. Faggiolino travels on a hot-air balloon, and the gods Mars, Mercury and Morpheus help him to take possession of the talismans which he brings back to the king. After a fight between the two Genies, the Princess is transformed and the show ends with the celebration of her marriage to Faggiolino.

Italy

Bologna

Handwritten outline

Wedding

Quest

Crown

Coat

Latin Mythology

Test

Thief

Suicide

Gas balloon

Cosmic journey

Transformation

Italian

Fagiolino

Sganapino

Courtier

Mars

Mercury

Goddess of the Night

Morpheus

Final wedding

Apparition of a god

Fire

L'ascensione di Faggiolino nel regno del Sole e nel mondo della Luna

L'ascension de Faggiolino au royaume du Soleil et dans le monde de la Lune

In his theatre, Mimmo is both an actor and a puppet showman. He is the boss of all the characters and can play all the roles: he plays the Harpo, an 'oggre' (ogre). But when he meets Lili, a "fragile and seductive" little puppet, everything falls into chaos. He wants to hold her, manipulate her as he pleases, and even eat her, and swallow her. She wants to escape, be able to move on her own, or even become human. Little Kouki, "the puppet’s puppet", wants the same thing, but Harpo and Mimmo prevent them from escaping. The dolls' bodies are abused, forced and violently injured. However, Harpo is finally unable to eat little Lili, even though his hunger makes him scream in pain. The scary ogre has fallen in love. The theatre becomes the backdrop for a fierce and hopeless love story.

Bare hand

Shadow theatre

Lemahieu Daniel

Bourg-en-Bresse

Electronic text

Ogre

Woman

Wrestling

Love

Gender-based violence

Violence

Murder

Manipulation

Poetry

Prosthesis

Tale

Fairy play

Noise

Hits

L'Ogre et la poupée

Polichinelle

Guignol

Avista

Splitting of the body

Allegory

Building a puppet on sight

Chase

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Disappearance

Childbirth on stage

Active stage directions

Shape shifting

Change of size on sight

Grammelot

Repetition of a word

L'Oggre et la poupée

The ogre and the doll

Due to an economic crisis, all performances were suspended and the puppets were stored in plastic bags. Only the Economico puppet, which can play all the characters by simply changing its head, continues to perform. Arlecchino has had his mask taken away and his heart has fled in search of it. Even his stick has abandoned him: without his mask, Arlequin's wrinkled old face no longer makes anyone laugh. Ginetto the rabbit is afraid of having his ears cut off, Colombine is the victim of a hysterical pregnancy, and Crocodile, like an accountant collecting taxes, is always ready to swallow anything. However, the puppets trapped in the bags manage to free themselves by breaking the regime imposed by the Economico and, following Arlecchino, go in search of lost fairy tales and a beating heart.