The play begins at the Court of Pella, with a choir of grooms seeing Ipomene, King Atrace’s sister, waiting for the return of her lover Cloridoro. When Cloridoro comes back, the couple sings their mutual love. In the woods, Atamira, daughter of the Corinthian King, is miserable as she waits for the return of her husband Acrimante. Witnessing the sinking of a ship, she saves two unlucky men, who turn out to be Acrimante and his servant Bibi. After recognising her, Acrimante rejects Atamira’s love and instead chooses to follow young shepherdesses. Atamira grieves, then falls asleep: Atrace and Cloridoro, gone hunting, find her in this state. Atrace immediately falls in love with Atamira and promises to help her. Acrimante arrives at Court and falls in love with Ipomene, while Bibi wooes the nurse Delfa. When he comes back from hunting, Atrace learns about Acrimante’s arrival and tasks Cloridoro with looking after their host, to whom he is a loyal friend. While Cloridoro reunites with Ipomene, Acrimante asks Bibi to find a cure to his love for the Infanta. During a farcical duo involving two lovers, Bibi learns from Delfa that Ipomene loves Cloridoro. Bibi asks the nurse to take the young woman to Acrimante’s bedroom, where she is told that she will meet with her lover. During another meeting between Acrimante and Atamira, Acrimante mistreats his wife, who becomes miserable again. The act concludes with a dance of Squires or Moors around the King, who is deeply in love with Atamira.
When he tries to kiss Delfa from his balcony, Bibi falls. Atrace, who sees him flee on his mule dressed in his master’s clothes, believes that Acrimante has betrayed him; he imagines that he is the lover of his sister or of the woman he loves. He decides to avenge himself and has him called. Summoned by the King when he was with Ipomene, Acrimante must leave her. Atrace and Cloridoro are jealous of him—one about Atamira, and the other about Ipomene. The King puts Acrimante in prison, which is a source of distress for Atamira: her husband rejects her love once again. Cloridoro believes that Ipomene has betrayed him and reproaches her for things she does not understand. Atrace decides to sentence Acrimante to death, and Atamira offers to carry out his order. She gives him a vial of fake poison, and he falls apart after asking his wife for forgiveness. Atamira has the body carried to her room. Cloridoro is upset over Ipomene’s betrayal, and Delfa tells him the truth: the two lovers reconcile and agree to meet at night, in the garden. Atrace, who rejoices over Acrimante’s death, proposes to Atamira; she refuses, without saying that she is already married. After dark, Bibi falls asleep while he is guarding his master’s body. Delfa, who came to meet him, caresses him and pretends to be Acrimante’s spirit. Bibi is frightened for a moment. Then, embarrassed to talk about love next to the body, he takes Delfa outside the room. The demon arrives and claims Acrimante’s soul, in a dreaming scene taking place in Proserpina’s kingdom. The monsters and spirits dance during an interlude, while the Queen of the Underworld declares her love to Acrimante. Atamira is waiting for her husband to wake up. When he arises from his lethargic state (greatly scaring Bibi), she declares her love to him. Accusing his wife of attempting to kill him, Acrimante dismisses her again. Bibi informs him of the rendez-vous planned between Ipomene and Cloridoro: Acrimante shows up instead of his friend, in a night scene secretly witnessed by Atrace. When she realises her mistake, Ipomene screams for help; Tidemo, a counsel, rushes to her rescue. Acrimante kills him and flees. Atrace is set on finding the culprit and sentencing him to death. A Corinthian ambassador informs the King that they will be at war, unless he marries Atamira: the King formally proposes to the young Princess, but she refuses to marry him; when he tells her that he will marry her whether she wants it or not, so as to avoid the war, she decides to kill herself. On the run, Acrimante arrives at the garden in Tidemo’s palace, where he finds a statue of his owner. He begins to speak with the statue, which he eventually invites to dinner. The statue tilts its head forward, then goes have dinner with its host. One table and six statues appointed by Pluto appear: Tidemo sits down at the table, as the statues dance and praise Pluto in a song. The earth opens, Acrimante sinks towards the abyss while Tidemo flies off in the sky. Once in the abyss of the Cocytus, Acrimante asks for forgiveness; Caronte (Charon) takes him to the Underworld. At court, Bibi tells Atamira about her husband’s death. She can now agree to marry Atrace. The play ends with three marriages.

"On foot and by rod" puppet

Marionette with counterweight

Not specified

Acciaiuoli Filippo (aka Gran Burattinajo)

Apolloni Giovanni Filippo

Italy

Ronciglione

Rome

Printed

Jealousy

Seduction

Shipwreck

Statue coming to life

Unfaithfulness

Forced marriage

Lyrical

Melodramatic

Dramatic

Burlesque

Fantasy

L'Empio punito (libretto, title page)

Italian

King

Sister

Cousin

Prince

Princess

Counselor

Servant

Nurse

Ambassador

Sheperherdess

Devil

Proserpina

Captain

Charon

Sailor

Groom

Music

Interlude

Chorus

Avista

Speechless character

Love rivalry

Love story

Thwarted love

Shipwreck scene

Scene of recognition

Hunting scene

Character leaning against the window

Fall of a character

Comical fall of a character

Seduction scene

Monologue

Confinement

Fake death

Dreamt scene

Dream

Nightmare

Apparition of a god

Apparition of a monster

Apparition of demons

Demons dance

Night scene

Scene in the dark

Sword thrust

Sword fight

Duel scene

Gunshot

Messenger

Ascent to heaven

Flying machine

Final wedding

L'Empio punito

The Non-believer punished

The play begins with the sinking of Ulisse’s (Ulysses’) boat. Ulisse is saved by Almira, who was making a sacrifice to Minerva on the beach with a choir of young girls. The young woman falls in love with Ulisse and has him escorted to the Court of her father, Alcinoo (Alcinous). In the following scene, Delfo, Ulisse’s hunchback servant, comes out of the water on a dolphin’s back. Cirene, Almira’s fickle daughter, also falls in love with Ulisse, who is now staying at Court. The two sisters fight for the stranger’s love, while Ormindo, Cirene’s unhappy lover, learns that she is wooing Ulisse. The first act ends with a dance of gardeners, both male and female. Cirene speaks to Ulisse as she stands before her mirror: the prince confesses that he loves her, after Delfo made a few bawdy innuendos. Ormindo denounces his fickle lover to Ulisse, while Almira also confesses her love; her confession is echoed by Lisa’s farcical innuendos. Ulisse hesitates between the two sisters. Taking revenge on Cirene, Almira exposes her sister’s debauchery to Alcinoo, who swears that he will punish her. During a scene in which Ormindo draws Cirene’s portrait, the old nurse Lisa believes that the young man is pining for her. Disappointed when she learns the truth, she decides to take revenge on her rival by speaking in favour of Almira to Ulisse. Cirene’s father walks in on her as she is writing a letter to confess her love to the Prince of Ithaca. To save herself, she accuses Almira of having written the letter: Alcinoo disowns (his daughter) Almira. Ulisse, who received the letter which Delfo says was written by Almira, is at a loss to understand the situation, and he falls asleep. In his sleep, Minerva speaks to him and reminds him of his duty to his country and to his wife Penelope: when he wakes up, he decides to leave Phaeacia. Cirene, wearing a mask, dismisses Ormindo. Ulisse takes leave of Alcinoo and of his daughters. Alcinoo decides to marry Ormindo and Cirene, who refuses herself to her suitor: the king then offers him to marry his daughter Almira.

Venice

Love

Hospitality

Parodistic

Filippo Acciaiuoli, L'Ulisse in Feacia. Venezia: Francesco Nicolini, 1681 (title page).

Alcinoos

Young woman

Nausicaa

Lover (man)

Ulysses

Minerva

Play in verse

Dancing entertainment

Love duet

Board meeting

Soliloquy

Sleeping character

Letter

Masked characters

Dilemma

Deus ex machina

L'Ulisse in Feaccia

Ulysses in Phaeacia

Don Quixote takes up his role as a wandering knight and asks Sancho Pança (Sancho Panza) to help prepare before they leave, while his niece and the childminder beg him to stay. Sancho Pança gives instructions for his will and bids farewell to his wife and daughter. Don Quixote declares his love to a woman peasant whom he believes is Dulcineia under a spell. He mistakes comedians for giants, but the fight is avoided thanks to Sancho Pança’s donkey. In a forest, they meet Sansão Carrasco (Sansón Carrasco), who pretends to be a wandering knight. Don Quixote challenges him to a duel and unhorses him. Then, he attacks a caged lion, kills it and declares that he will now have to be called the Knight of the Lions. When he learns that a wandering knight is imprisoned in the cave of Montesinos, Don Quixote descends into it and tries to remove a spell from Lord Montesinos and from Belerma, the lady of the knight Durorante. The earth shakes and he is carried into the air with Sancho Pança. Back in the forest, Don Quixote believes that Dulcineia has been changed into Sancho Pança and declares his love to him; Sancho threatens to kick him until Don Quixote’s illusion is broken. The muse Calíope (Calliope) comes down from a cloud and asks Don Quixote to fight the bad poets. Don Quixote chases them off. Apolo (Apollo) offers Pancho’s son, who is a poet, to join the Parnassus. After embarking on a boat, Don Quixote and Sancho are shipwrecked. They are taken in a palace. Sancho asks for the island promised by his master. A devil on a donkey announces that the evil spell put on Dulcineia has come to an end. After being flogged, Sancho is appointed governor of the island. He passes several burlesque judgements, dictates a fanciful letter for his wife and then goes out to have lunch. He is forced to consult a doctor and quarrels with a judge about whether eating is good or not. Touring his island, Sancho wants to stop a serenade, but he flees after a sword fight. The scene ends with a fake attack on his island: Sancho avoids being killed.
The Countess Trifaldi asks Don Quixote to remove her spell. Mounting a horse that came down from the sky, he leaves and starts his quest as a wandering knight again, while Sancho announces that he plans on going back home. Carrasco tries one last time to bring Don Quixote back to reality, fights him in a duel, unhorses him and forces him to go back home. Sancho complains that he has won nothing in this adventure.

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

Portugal

Lisbon

Madness

Illusion

Knighthood

Deception

Adventure

Trap

Mock-heroic

Comical

António José da Silva, Vida do grande D. Quixote de la Mancha e do gordo Sancho Pança, stage direction by Émilie Valantin, Comédie-Française, 2008.

Portuguese

Sancho Panza

Niece

Daughter

Notary

Peasant (female)

Calliope

Apollo

Muse

Miller

Gentleman

Lady

Clerk

Merlin

Violinist

Physician

Surgeon

Innkeeper

Old woman

Horseman

Bearded lady

Aside

Aria

Disguised character (false identity)

Fight with an animal

Earthquake

Scene of flagellation

Court scene

Vida do grande D. Quixote de la Mancha e do gordo Sancho Pança

Life of the great Don Quixote of la Mancha and of the fat Sancho Panza

Jason lands in Colchis with Teseu (Theseus) and an armed escort; he seeks to obtain the Golden Fleece. As he admires the King’s beautiful daughter, Medeia (Medea), and her cousin Creúsa, his servant Sacatrapo is coveting Arpia, Medeia’s servant. Sacatrapo, hidden inside a sideboard, overhears Medeia declaring her love for Jason to her servant. Jason promises to marry Medeia if she helps him find the Golden Fleece. But he is in love with Creúsa: he declares his love to his servant and entrusts him with inquiring into the young woman’s feelings. The King is sceptical about the motifs of Jason’s coming and asks Medeia to find out about his true intentions. Because Jason urges her to, Medeia carries him on a cloud to the enchanted garden. On Pegasus’s back, Jason enters the garden, where he fights against a fire-breathing dragon; laid down, the dragon disappears into flames. Medeia summons Sacatrapo thanks to a dragon who spits the servant out of its month. Casting her spells, she makes the flowers of the garden move and transforms them into nymphs (which Sacatrapo sees as donkeys). Jason confirms again that he loves Medeia, even though he is thinking about Creúsa. Jason is preparing to flee with Teseu and asks Sacatrapo to go fetch Creúsa. The servant tells the King that Jason stole the Golden Fleece from him. Medeia, abandoned, confides in Creúsa. The young women order Jason to explain himself. The King asks Medeia to vouch for Jason; she agrees. Sacatrapo meets Medeia: mistaking her for Creúsa during a night scene, he reveals that Jason is unfaithful. Furious, Medeia buries him slowly to feed the dragons with him, and replaces his head with a donkey’s. He must look for his head in the depths. Arpia fools Sacatrapo by promising that he will discover a donkey with golden droppings; this donkey is said to be kept by an ant. Sacatrapo is determined to kill the ant and steal the donkey using the hat given by Arpia, which should make him invisible. Medeia walks in on Creúsa and Jason during a romantic duo scene; she buries her rival inside a mountain. The King begins a war against the Argonauts: Sacatrapo arrives with a rag on his head and believes that he is invisible. He and Jason are taken prisoners. Riding a chariot drawn by dragons, Medeia divides the armies with a river. The King disowns his daughter, as she raises a tower from which she defies him. While Sacatrapo believes that he has found a treasure, snakes come out of the chest he is dragging: he has once again been fooled by Arpia. Creúsa and Jason flee during a night scene, but Medeia unleashes the winds, leading to a storm scene, so that they are forced to go back to Colchis. The King pardons Jason, offers him to marry Creúsa and promises to kill Medeia, who escapes on a cloud.

Rod and string marionette

Giant marionette

Magic

Dragon

Golden Fleece

Theft

Treason

Unrequited love

Farcical

Summary of the play Os Encantos de Medeia (edition of 1759)

Jason

Theseus

Nephew

General

Medea

Creusa

Maid

Guard

Soldier

Choir

Enchantment

Set that comes to life

Metamorphosis

Clouds

Fighting a monster

Animalised character

Stormy scene

Animated natural element

Battlefield scene

Battle against a sorcerer

Entering with vehicle

Splitting of the body

Headbutt

Spying scene

Thunderbolt

Apotheosis

Ballet

Os Encantos de Medeia

Medea's Spells

Mistreated by his aunt and his uncle since the death of his father, the farmer Timothy Coombewest decides to leave and seek his fortune. He asks Marjorie Morning to wait for him for a few years and to marry him upon his return. He becomes a cabin boy on board the Linnet. Once at sea, Captain Chief, or Blackbeard the Second, tasks his crew with a new quest: he wants to find an emerald that was buried by Jamesee Henderson several years before. Coastal erosion should have exposed the precious stone, permitting ships to see it with a naked eye. Eight years pass, and the emerald still remains lost. Colorado Maduro expresses his gratitude at the kindness of Timothy (Tim), who has not let him die of hunger while the captain has imprisoned him in the ship's hold. He confides in Tim that he found and stole the emerald a year before, but that his destiny is sealed: the one who steals this precious stone is cursed with a year left to live, and the one who receives it as a gift will be blessed with prosperity. The ship jets out towards the cliffs and sinks. In a grotto under the sea, Tim meets Davy Jones, who gives him back the precious gem. Tim, now captain, navigates towards the direction of his hometown. From the shore, the inhabitants see the sails of his ship and prepare to welcome him and to celebrate his marriage to Marjorie.