In the prologue, Talia (Thalia) and Urania announce an inspiring story. Baldassara, a successful actress admired by Alvaro and Rodrigo, is tormented: as she performs the role of Clorinda in the company of Beatrice, Lisa, and Biscotto in a theatrical adaptation of La Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso, she is so disturbed that she misses her cue. Baldassara understands that her torment comes from the fact that, while she plays the role of a young Christian, she has turned a deaf ear to the calls of God. Right in the middle of the performance, she leaves to exile herself in the desert, pursued by Biscotto and Lisa, who attempt to deter her from her goal. Beatrice, however, has only contempt for her rival; the other actors apologize to the public, who seem enthusiastic at the performance of who they call the "Comica del Cielo" (the Actress from the Heavens). During her exile, Baldassara discovers the beauty in solitude, while Lisa and Biscotto see only horror. She refuses their pleas to return to Valenza. The Demon, disguised as a hunter, tempts Alvaro, who has left in search of his lover: the young man finds Baldassara, who implores him to devote his life to God. In despair, he leaves to throw himself from a cliff. Baldassara tries to stop him, but a boulder in the form of a cross intervenes. Baldassara kneels before the power of the Divine. Biscotto, in hermit's robes, decides to stay at her side despite objections from Lisa. During her slumber, the Demon sends Baldassara temptations: upon her wake, she repels him with a Christian symbol, which breaks the spell. Biscotto, however, regardless of Lisa's warnings, tastes a cake from the Demon: the bitterness in his mouth remains, but he succeeds in chasing the Demon away. Act II ends with a ballet. Beatrice arrives in the desert after the death of Tafer, who she followed across the oceans and who was defeated by Rodrigo. In a nocturnal scene, Baldassara and Biscotto discover Beatrice and successfully dissuade her from killing herself. Rodrigo, arriving mid-reunion, wants to kill Beatrice to avenge her infidelity. Baldassara interjects and commands him to turn toward God. After these multiple conversions Penitenza (Penitence) appears to Baldassara to bring her her rewards; she confronts the Demon and triumphs over him. Since Alvaro hopes to regain his good graces with the help of Lisa, he finds Baldassara dead, in the midst of a choir of angels and happy souls.

"On foot and by rod" puppet

Marionette with counterweight

Not specified

Spain

Madrid

Italy

Rome

Printed

Conversion

Desert

Hermit

Actress

Miracle

Edifying

Heroic

Religious

Epic

Italian

La Conversione di Santa Baldassarra Comica Spagnuola; La Comica celeste

ovvero La Baldassara

Thalie

Muse

Uranie

Lover (man)

King

Counselor

Servant

Maid

Devil

Soldier

Spectator

Choir

Angel

Play in verse

Chorus

Interlude

Prologue

Theatre within the theatre

Crowd

Sleeping character

Soliloquy

Night scene

Revelation

Failed suicide

Apparition of the Devil

Pact with the devil

Allegory

Death on stage

Flying machine

Apotheosis

Ascent to heaven

Apparition of an angel

La Comica del Cielo

The Actress from the Heavens

In the Underworld, Plutone (Pluto) and Proserpina dispatch their armies of Erinyes on Earth, ordering them to punish Odoardo, the tyran from Thebes. Filone and Ormondo, the King's counsels, are waiting for the King to return and celebrate his wedding with the young Erminda. Ormondo confesses his love to Pasquella, Girello's wife, who turns him down: Girello says that he will beat him and, taking revenge, Ormondo sends him to prison. At Court, Doralba, the King's sister, is desperately in love with the slave Mustafa. Filone and Ormondo demand that Girello be punished, and he is sentenced to exile. Mustafa gives him a little money, before joining Doralba and singing his love to her: as he is overeager, Doralba denounces him to Odoardo. Girello, exiled in the woods, meets a magician who introduces himself as the Patriarch of the abyss. To prove his title, he shows him several diabolical creatures. Scared, Girello tries to send him off, but the magician offers to help him. The stage transforms into the entrance of the Underworld: demons are coming out of it to dress Girello with kingly clothes. If he keeps these clothes on and puts a magic root next to the King, Girello will look like Odoardo, and Odoardo will look like Girello. Girello arrives at Court in his new clothes and announces a series of harebrained laws, before calling his counsels “Governator delle galline” (governor of hens) and “Segretario maggior della brachetta” (Secretary General of the (Trousers) Fly). He arrives without his sword, is recognised as Girello, comes back with his sword and is seen as the King, even though his servants think that he has changed because he is no longer greedy. The old Pasquella prays to Girello, whom she believes to be the King, asking him to allow her to marry again so her youth is not lost in waiting for her husband. As for Mustafa, who has been accused of trying to rape the King's sister, he asks for his forgiveness. Girello throws Ormondo and Filone behind bars, chooses Mustafa as his favourite, and tells Pasquella to wait and see what is coming for her. The real Odoardo, surprised to find his counsel in prison, asks Tartaglia to release them. From this arises a first misunderstanding, as Tartaglia cannot make sense of the King's inconsistent orders. Conversely, Mustafa thanks Odoardo for his good deed; the King does not understand why, and he puts him in prison, with Doralba, who confessed that she was in love with the slave. Girello asks for the lovers to be released, then he marries them and sends Filone and Ormondo to the galleys. When Tartaglia tells him about his contradictory behaviour, Girello demands that he be beaten with a stick the next time he loses his memory. Pasquello, begging for a husband, is willing to react positively to the advances of the so-called King, who swears that she will be beaten; Erminda is getting ready to spend the night with Girello, whom she believes to be her husband. Girello manages to slip the root in Odoardo's belongings. The King, standing in front of his doppelganger, fails to understand the situation, and he despairs when Tartaglia asks him to bow before Girello. In prison, where he was sent, Odoardo asks for his wife to intervene in his favour: it is Pasquella, and not Erminda, who answers him. At this point, the magician decides to remove the veil from the mortals' eyes—he turns Tartaglia into a statue, and tells Girello that he is taking his royal status away, for he has misused it. Girello tries to have him beaten, but the magician reveals the truth to everyone. Neither Pasquella nor Erminda knows where her real husband is anymore; as for Mustafa, it is revealed that he is the son of the King of Cyprus and Erminda's brother, which makes his marriage with the King's sister acceptable. The magician sets the example of forgiveness to the King by giving Tartaglia his human form back: Odoardo then forgives Girello.

Acciaiuoli Filippo (aka Gran Burattinajo)

Ronciglione

Venice

Revenge

Magic

Apparences

Reign

Love

Social condition

Fantasy

Burlesque

Comical

Farcical

Girello, 1668 (front cover).

Pluto

Proserpina

Queen

Sister

Slave

Brother

Pedant

Nurse

Gardener

Prison guard

Magician

Music

Macaronism

Confinement

Avista

Demons dance

Change of social status

Apparition of a wizard

Apparition of demons

Enchantment

Transforming one character into another

Disguised character (false identity)

Role reversal

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Seduction scene

Thwarted love

Love duet

Allusion to the audience

Girello

The Wandering Man

Figaro argues with Suzanne, his wife, because he wants to open a puppet theater. He brings his ill daughter, Friquette, to Paris. She recovers thanks to Doctor Fluidas, a neighbor who accompanies her every day to magnetism sessions. She agrees to help her father in his new undertaking, while Suzanne refuses to be convinced. Friquette confesses to her father that she is in love with a young man. She is enamored with L’Enfumé (The Tricked One), a student physicist, whom she has not seen for four days. Upon L’Enfumé’s arrival in the city, Friquette blames him for his absence, but he explains that it is due to his preparation to fly in a balloon that has her name written on it in golden letters. Fluidas announces that doctors have forbidden his magnetism sessions because he is an impostor. After an accident with the balloon he was supposed to fly in, L’Enfumé is robbed of the money left from the subscription that he started for its construction. Figaro convinces everybody to join him in his puppet theater project.

Rod and string marionette

France

Paris

Theatre

Magnetism

False doctor

Imposture

Gas balloon

Gascon

Flight

Scientific experimentation

E. D., Figaro, directeur de marionnettes, 1785.

French

Figaro

Physicist

Physician

Aria

Monologue

Argument

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Comical regional accent

Final song

Figaro, directeur de marionnettes

Figaro, puppet director

The play takes place on a island of dreams. Mère-Grand learns that Myrrhine has distanced herself from her five sisters to dream on her own by the sea. She worries about it, as this daydreaming can only carry the young woman off towards reality. Myrrhine confirms that the “bandeau d’illusion” (the blindfold of illusion) has indeed been lifted from her eyes, and that she no longer believes in fairytales, only in love: she loves the Chevalier Tavonin (Knight Tavonin) and believes that she is loved by him too. The Knight appears on a small boat with Aurore, his new lover, and rejects Myrrhine. In her despair, she calls on the Génie des Arbres (the Genie of the Trees) and the Fée des Mousses (the Moss Fairy), but they are powerless—they cannot console her now that she has lost her illusions. Myrrhine kills herself by jumping into the sea. Mère-Grand blames her death on the Knight, but he replies saying that he is Love incarnated and that all of Myrrhine’s sisters will suffer the same fate, as their eyes will eventually be opened too.

Belgium

Illusion

Dream

Reality

Unfaithfulness

Death

Suicide

Belief

Island

Childhood

Teenagers

Fairy

Genie

Plant world

Funeral procession

Tragic

Grandmother

Knight

Apparition

Le Bandeau d'illusion

The Blindfold of illusion

The play opens with a “Prologo in cielo” (prologue in the sky) during which the Teatro Vagante (an itinerant theatre) is brought down from the fly towers to the stage: the Teatro Vagante is at once a cave, a house, a cradle, a cart and a theatre. The actors have seen the theatre of the gods, which they have to try recreating now because “a mystery must be revealed”. The mystery is about a country where people are insatiable and keep wanting to eat fresh meat, even though resources are scarce. There are no cattle, an epidemic has broken out in the countryside and rubbish produced by their residents is piling up in the suburbs. This jungle of metal is thought to be the home of spirits called “rottamat”, which people believe to be responsible for the disappearance of several villagers. Everyone praises the butcher for his excellent meat, but he turns out to be an evil character who commits murders to supply meat for his shop. Just like the devil, he takes on numerous shapes: he is simultaneously the Butcher, the Father, the crazy man Matteo and the Emperor. Every morning, the Mother and the Father (the Butcher himself) wait for the butcher’s shop to open so they can buy the best meat, even when their son is in a hospital after having been attacked by the Father. The Mother flirts with the Butcher – who embodies her erotic ideal – until she becomes his victim. Nobody suspects the Butcher. Or maybe everybody keeps quiet so they can keep enjoying his excellent meat? The killings go on until all the villagers have eaten one another. Ultimately, only the Watchman understands that the Butcher is behind the murders, but even he is killed in the end. According to the actors of the Teatro Vagante, only hope remains: “even hell can be transformed – I hope”, one of the actors declares.

Actor and puppet

Glove-puppet

Shadow theatre

Brescia

Consumer society

Meat

Pollution

Famine

Cannibalism

Ecology

Evil

Grotesque

Lyrical

Giuliano Scabia, Fantastica visione, stage direction by Alessandro Marinuzzi, 1993.

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