Júpiter, madly in love with Alcmena (Alcmene), sets up a stratagem imagined by Mercúrio (Mercury): while the beautiful woman laments the absence of her husband, the general Anfitriaõ (Amphitryon), who has gone to war, the god disguises himself as her husband and goes to see her. As for the servant Cornucópia, she is talking with Mercúrio, disguised as her husband Saramago. When Saramago arrives and announces his master’s return, he sees Mercúrio, disguised as him: disconcerted, he cannot guide his master when he asks him how the news was received in the house. Juno, Júpiter’s wife, decides to avenge herself for his infidelities. Calling herself Felisarda, she comes down to Alcmena’s house; Júpiter has just left. When the real Anfitriaõ returns, even Juno is fooled and believes that he is in fact her husband Júpiter. The scene also leads to a series of misunderstandings between Anfitriaõ and his wife, who believes that she saw him the day before, and between Saramago and Cornucópia, who reproaches him for his rudeness. Determined to keep the ruse going, Júpiter goes as far as deceiving the soldiers and usurps Anfitriaõ’s military victory. The nymph Iris, disguised as Corriola, attempts to find out the truth by seducing Saramago. Tirésias, in love with Juno, who is pretending to be the daughter of Anfitriaõ’s enemy, agrees to help her: they will take revenge against their husbands. The couples quarrel and reconcile: jealous when she hears the romantic conversations between Saramago and Iris, Cornucópia is forced to think about her own unfaithfulness with the other Saramago. In the meantime, Júpiter reconciles with Alcmena, who was angry with him after a quarrel about the real Anfitriaõ. Mercúrio stops Anfitriaõ from coming by refusing to recognise him: this leads to a violent struggle between the master and his “valet”; when the real Saramago arrives, he is beaten. Anfitriaõ and Saramago break through the door and force Júpiter to leave the house: Anfitriaõ comes face to face with his lookalike. The two suitors are about to kill each other, but they are interrupted by Alcmena, who faints. The scene is paralleled by a confrontation between Mercúrio and Saramago, in front of Cornucópia, who also faints and turns into a dwarf. When Saramago discovers Tirésias and Juno’s love affair, the goddess turns him into an olive tree: Mercúrio and Cornucópia knock down its fruits, then Júpiter engraves the name of his beloved on it, before giving Saramago his original body back. Júpiter meets Alcmena, who is sleeping by the fountain. He is challenged by Anfitriaõ. Mercúrio testifies on behalf of his master, against the real Anfitriaõ. The couple is in a predicament: Tirésias sentences Alcmena to death for her infidelity; doing so, he obeys Juno; Anfitriaõ is put in prison, where he beats Saramago for being the cause of his misfortune. However, the gods intervene, so that the play has a happy ending. Juno frees the prisoners; then, when Alcmena is about to be sacrificed, Júpiter reveals the truth: the stage transforms into an empyrean.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Printed

Return from the war

Double

Identity

Usurpation

Encounter

Love

Jealousy

Fantasy

Mock-heroic

Comical

Burlesque

Parodistic

Title page and summary of Amphitryaõ (1759)

Portuguese

ou Júpiter e Alcmena

Amphitryon

Husband

Jupiter (Jove)

Mercury

Tiresias

Captain

Servant

Alcmene

Wife

Juno

Maid

Iris

Music

Love duet

Chorality

Transforming one character into another

Love rivalry

Clouds

Flying machine

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Duel scene

Fainting

Change of head on sight

Change of size on sight

Sleeping character

Confinement

Revelation

Deus ex machina

Avista

Anfitriaõ

The show begins with a ballet by the Angels, who kneel before God. Then Mestre-Salas and Padre Chancas talk in a comic way. In the Garden of Eden, God creates the light, the Sun and the Moon, that all quarrel to determine which one of them is the most important. God creates Adam and Eve, then plants and animals. He asks the couple not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil under any circumstances. The snake tempts Eve, who bites into the apple of the tree, then has Adam taste it too. God discovers their violation and throws Adam, Eve and the Snake out of paradise. On earth, Adam and Eve live in poverty – Adam works the land and Eve spins wool. Adam is angry and accuses Eve of having caused their misery and he hits her while she insults him. Adam asks for God’s forgiveness. Adam and Eve’s sons, Abel and Cain, make offerings to God. Cain envies God’s preference for his brother and makes fun of Abel (who wets himself out of fear) before killing him. Abel’s corpse is carried into Heaven by the Angels. Eve loses her temper with Cain, who insults her, shows no remorse and defies God. The latter curses Cain by making him all black and damning him. Even in Hell, Cain continues to brag, and he makes fun of demons. He cheats while playing cards again the Devil. The show ends with a gag: a voice in the wings relates that a banger popped in the room and tore a hole in the pants of a member of the audience.

Single rod marionettes

Borba

Évora

Genesis

Original sin

Eternal punishment

Hell

Bible

Adam

Abel

Cain

Angel

Religious

Farcical

The Ballet of Angels by the Bonecos de Santo Aleixo

God (monotheism)

Choir

Moon

Vicar

Barker

The Interpreter

Demiurge

Snake

Devil

Spinner

Play in verse

Sung scenes

Off-stage voice

Murder on stage

Sarabande

Ascent to heaven

Explosion

Animal cry

Pyrotechnics

Aside

Comical regional accent

Word warping

Lazzi

Kicking on the ground (sound effect)

Auto da Criação do Mundo

Auto of the Creation of the World

The play begins with a council of Démons (Demons) during which Pluton (Pluto), furious that Antoine (Anthony) is diverting the souls of the Underworld with his prayers, orders the Démons to capture him, and promises a reward for the one who will succeed. Proserpine (Proserpina), his wife, asks for permission to go alone to seduce the hermit. Antoine recognises her immediately and resists her charms. Pluton then tries a different approach, and pretends to be a beggar caught in a storm. Exposed, he asks Antoine to surrender his soul to him, but the hermit reasserts his faith in God. The Démons then appear suddenly, drag Antoine in a hellish dance and set fire to the tail of his Cochon (Pig). They also destroy his hermitage and tell him that they will transform his faithful companion into a sausage. Antoine is exhausted and begs God, who sends down an Ange (Angel) to rebuild the chapel and turn Pluton into a basket of flowers. During the grand finale, Antoine rises to the sky followed by his Cochon.

String marionette

All audiences

France

Revenge

Monk

Temptation

Seduction

Belief

Reward

Joke

Miracle

French

Pluto

Proserpina

Prime Minister

Demon

Sculptor monk

Song

Chorus

Apparition of demons

Disguised character (false identity)

Dance

Demons dance

Thunderbolt

Apotheosis

La Tentation de Saint-Antoine

The Temptation of Saint Anthony

Dragonne, the Génie’s daughter, is bored. She can neither talk with humans nor leave the forest, because the rivers are controlled by her father’s enemy, Fée Écrevisse (Fairy Crayfish). Being far-sighted, the Génie has prepared a gift for his daughter: the Jam-e-Jam Numai, or the mirror of the universe. This magical mirror shows everything one could want to see, across the entire world. However, the Génie imposes a condition on his daughter: she must never say the name of Fée Écrevisse; if she does, she would fall under her power – irreversibly so. Once she has the mirror, Dragonne watches a fight, hoping that she will find her husband. She focuses on a young warrior, Prince Belle-Épine (Beautiful-Thorn). She orders her father, the Génie, to plan her wedding with this knight. However, the young man is under the protection of Fée Écrevisse, and the king has already decided to marry him to his own daughter Églantine (French medieval name, literally meaning dog rose). Furious, Dragonne laments her fate and says that she is the most unhappy person in the world. Then, looking into the mirror again, she sees the princess Églantine: she orders the Génie to abduct her and make her prisoner. Prince Papillon (Butterfly) arrives at the king’s palace. Chevalier Belle-Épine, the king’s future son-in-law, has given princess Églantine three magical animals: a cat whose fur bristles every time someone tells a lie, a serin that can speak, and a mouse that can sneak everywhere. However, many at court are against this wedding: they do not trust a man capable of obtaining such gifts. Prince Papillon arrives and immediately seduces the entire assembly. He reveals that he has been defeated by Reine Abeille (Queen Bee); he asks the king to protect him. Benevolent, the king offers to accommodate him for three days at the palace. The audience then learns that Prince Papillon wants to marry Princesse Églantine. The third scene begins with Princesse Églantine going missing. The entire court accuses Chevalier Belle-Épine, because the magical animals he has given the princess have also disappeared. Soon after, Prince Papillon also vanishes. Distraught, the knight asks Fée Écrevisse for help: no one but her can counter the power of the Génie, who is the only one capable of catching the magical animals. In the fourth scene, Princesse Églantine, the animals and Prince Papillon are in Dragonne’s cave. The latter wonders whether Chevalier Belle-Épine will come to save his beloved. She demands that the prince and the princess marry, so that the knight can stay with her. She locks them both in a cage, with the animals. The mouse escapes and the serin points the princess to the magical mirror, which is behind the cage. Thanks to it, they can know what is happening in the kingdom. In a hurry, the knight steps on the mouse and kills it. Dragonne comes back; thanks to the mirror, she sees the knight approaching the cave. She hides the prince and the princess in a place even more secret. Meanwhile, the cat manages to leave the cage and hides.
Dragonne welcomes the knight and relates that she saw Princesse Églantine, radiant, in the forest, walking with a prince that looked like a butterfly. The knight takes her word for it. However, the cat suddenly crosses the stage; his fur is bristling. The knight understands that he has been lied to: he declares that he loves Princesse Églantine and promises to take revenge. He steals the magical mirror to give it to Fée Écrevisse, who would do anything to obtain it. Dragonne tells the knight to bid the princess and the prince goodbye, as they will be left with the tigers in the forest. But the knight runs towards the mirror and calls Fée Écrevisse: she appears, furious. With a magical gesture, she turns Dragonne into a lioness. The knight and Princesse Églantine’s wedding can finally be celebrated. The fairy also conjures Reine Abeille, so she can resolve her conflict with Prince Papillon. After a short but decisive conversation, Reine Abeille agrees to marry Prince Papillon. Together, they go back to their kingdom.

Young audiences

Bernard Laure

Le Havre

Father-daughter relationship

Forest

Whim

Fairy

Magic

Prince

Knighthood

Rivalry in love

Kingdoms

Princess

Kidnapping

Happy marriage

Illustration for Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique (Laure Bernard, Théâtre de marionnettes, 1837).

King

Knight

Genie

Daughter

Queen

Nurse

Governess

Dancer

Mouse

Bird

Apparition of a genie

Object magically appearing

Talking animal

Initiatory quest

Hidden character

Metamorphosis

Magical formula

Character represented in animal form

Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique

The Jam-e-Jam Numai or the Magical Mirror

Madame Pifardent (literally, Madame Fiery-snout) has been disfigured by sulfuric acid, and a trial ensues to find the culprit. The accused, Émile Belenfant-des-Dames, who is described as “the worst kind of villain, already sentenced to death in absentia nine times”, has been arrested at the Belgian border, 600 kilometres away from the crime scene at the time when it was committed. The Greffier (Court clerk) assures that Belenfant could have covered this distance thanks to the miracles of the railway. Belenfant denies any connection to Madame Pifardent and claims to be innocent. The witnesses are called. Gustave Courbet says that he only knows his paintings. He digresses and talks about the woman he would marry: a woman who could barely read and write, who would not know how to dance and who would wear a straw hat. Gioachino Rossini, who knows nothing about the case, talks about the “macaroni dell’arte”. After him, Alfred de Caston performs a magic trick with cards and dominoes. He leaves the room to the applause. Then, Émile de Girardin speaks; he talks about freedom, peace, his writing and especially his drama Le Supplice d’une femme (The Torture of a woman). He quickly disappears. Alexandre Dumas senior only talks about his accomplishments. Jules Simon, dressed as a primary school teacher, arrives. He passionately discusses the importance of education and of schools, and then leaves. Adolphe Thiers goes after him and talks about his duty. The last witness, the docteur Tardieu (Doctor Tardieu) describes his science experiments on frogs using sulfuric acid. Madame Pifardent’s lawyer, Maître Favre, starts the pleas with a grandiloquent speech filled with metaphors. Then, the accused’s lawyer, Maître Lachaud, starts talking. He accuses Belenfant by recounting his past crimes. To defend himself, Belenfant retorts that those wrongdoings date back to the time of Louis Philippe. He also tries to justify his actions with his lack of education, and explains that he comes from a poor family. The Juge (Judge) interrupts him and forbids him from giving a “philosophical” speech. M. Prudhomme, the foreman of the jury, announces the verdict: the accused is found not guilty. Belenfant demands that a lament be sung in his honour. Before this, M. Prudhomme offers him to… marry his daughter.

Glove-puppet

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Crime

Justice

Trial

Guilty

Witness

Celebrity

Absurd

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, illustration for Le Procès Belefant-des-Dames, 1868.

Judge

Court usher

Defendant

Leader

Clerk

Lawyer

Constable

Gustave Courbet

Gioachino Rossini

Alfred de Caston

Émile de Girardin

Alexandre Dumas senior

Adolphe Thiers

Court scene

Comical foreign accent

Apparition of a wizard

Magic act

Address to the public

Le Procès Belenfant-des-Dames

The Trial of Belenfant-des-Dames

A Priest, whose face looks like those painted by Fra Angelico, gets out of his house, smiling at life. While hearing noise from the modern city and the industrial world, he changes his expression and his voice to better fit the expectations of a churchman. He sees a Soldier and accuses him of having a mistress. The Soldier tells him that his wife is living with the Lawyer. The Lawyer comes and shares his disapproval concerning the Merchant, who openly commits adultery with the Doctor’s wife. The Merchant then exposes the affair between the Doctor and the Actor’s wife, as well as the one between the Actor’s wife and the Doctor’s wife and the Doctor’s daughter’s passion for the Actor. Each of these revelations is followed by the exclamation “It is too much!” from the previous characters, and with a change of expression emphasizing the hypocrisy of their outrage. The Doctor and the Actor enter together, and the Doctor declares that all the women of the village are in love with the Poet. All men rush to their homes to find their wives. The Priest remains alone and asks Mary, his servant, who we can tell is his partner, to set the table to receive the Poet for lunch. He will be accompanied by all of his wives and the children he had with them. The play ends when the children get on stage, through a door opening in the sky and under a rain of rose petals.

Anfitriaõ

ou Júpiter e Alcmena

Auto da Criação do Mundo

La Tentation de Saint-Antoine

Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique

Le Procès Belenfant-des-Dames

It is too much

Crac ! dans le sac !

Histoires post-it

ou On est bien peu de chose quand même !