A flesh-and-blood Pulcinella speaks to the audience about his secret passion for books and, in particular, for Shakespeare's Macbeth. While reading a book and manipulating chess pieces on a small table in front of a castelet, Pulcinella tells the story of Macbeth. At the end, convinced that it's impossible for such a wicked character to die, he casts a spell to keep Macbeth alive. Pulcinella enters in the puppet boots and "Mr. Punch Macbeth" appears on stage.
After hitting his wife Judy and making a sausage with the Baby, Mr Punch-Macbeth meets Hamlet, played by a Pierrot puppet. In an absurd dialogue between the two characters, their stories mingle and Hamlet ends up killing Mr Punch-Macbeth, shouting, « Essere o non essere, non è un problema! » (« To be or not to be isn’t a problem! »). Hamlet falls in love with Juliette, but his brother (a Sicilian pupo) and the puppeteer prevent the marriage of a glove puppet and a marionette. Juliette drinks a potion which makes her appear to be dead. Hamlet swallows a poison which turns him into a glove puppet representing Mobârak (the black valet of the Iranian puppet theater), in the role of Othello.
Othello mistakes Juliette for Desdemona and kills her before remembering that he himself is Romeo. In despair, he commits suicide. Iago enters, interpreted by a puppet with the head of the Neapolitan actor Totò, and proclaims himself king of the wicked. But he is immediately attacked and killed by a Polichinelle playing the part of Richard III. All the characters haunt the sleep of Polichinelle-Richard III: Mr Punch-Macbeth, Hamlet-Romeo, Othello, Iago. In the end, he is pursued by Death, but a horse with Pulcinella’s white hat and black half-mask comes to save him. At this moment, a marotte representing Shakespeare intervenes to bring the show to an end. Accompanied by the song Che cosa sono le nuvole? by Domenico Modugno and Pier Paolo Pasolini, taken from Pasolini's movie of the same name, the puppets make a final appearance on the puppet booth stage.

Full-view manipulation

Armed rod marionette

Marotte

String marionette

Glove-puppet

Actor and puppet

Object theatre

All audiences

Leone Bruno

Italy

Naples

Manuscript

Wickedness

Evil

Serial murder

Regicide

Impossible love

Love

Jealousy

Plot

Puppets

Comical

Parodistic

Neapolitan

Miscellanea di drammi shakespeariani in guarattellesco by Pulcinella Cetrulo

Pulcinella

Witch

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Messenger

Duncan

Banquo

Macduff

Punch

Judy

Hamlet

Romeo

Pierrot

Juliet

Puppeteer

Tybalt

Count Paris

Othello

Mobârak

Iago

Totò

Richard III

Polichinelle

Horse

William Shakespeare

Public

Crocodile

Sculptor monk

Death

Stabbing

Blow-with-a-stick

Sword fight

Transforming one character into another

Transforming scenery

Storyteller

Thwarted love

Metamorphosis

Fake death

Nightmare

Apparition of Death

Apparition of a ghost

Monologue

Final song

Spectacular turn of events

Pulchi Shake and Speare