Faust leads a destitute life as a scholar, until he lay hands on a book of black magic. He then sells his soul to the devil Mefistofeles, in exchange for services. Demons also appear to Kasper, whom Faust’s famulus – Wagner – has recently hired. But Kasper adamantly refuses to sell himself to the devil. Mefistofeles takes Faust and Kasper to Parma to lead a loose life. After living in luxury for twelve years, Faust is abandoned by Wagner, who disapproves of his way of life. Faust repents, but eventually gives in to carnal temptation when Mefistofeles presents him the fair Helen, whom he knew in Ancient Greece. Everyone rejects Faust. Kasper, now a night watchman, finds him out in the street within curfew hours and wants to throw him behind bars. But Faust’s final hour has come, and he is taken away by demons.

String marionette

Not specified

Geisselbrecht Johann Georg

Germany

Printed

University

Scholar

Wittenberg

Philosopher's stone

Foreign languages

Laziness

Sorcery

Necromancy

Perlike

Middle Ages

Crow

Pluto

Coffee

Penitence

Eroticism

Eternal punishment

Tragic

Burlesque

German

Comödie vom D. Faust ; Schauspiel von dem Doctor Faust

Oder : Der große Negromantist

Faust

Christoph Wagner

Kasperl

Mephistopheles

Devil

Auerhahn

Vizibuzli

Helen of Troy

Night watchman

Monologue

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Tragic irony

Song

Macaronism

Misunderstanding

Lazzi

Word for another

Thunderbolt

Apparition of the Devil

Repetition of a word

Pact with the devil

Dream

Versified passages

Bawdy equivocation

Doctor Faust

The ambitious Doctor Faust begins learning black magic and makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles: he promises him his soul on condition that the latter agrees to serve him. Faust goes to Parma with Mephistopheles and his houseboy Hans Wurst. The houseboy was asked to keep the identity of his master secret, but he gives it away to the duke of Parma as soon as he arrives there. Faust makes several spectacular natural phenomena appear before the duke (Mount Etna erupting, a sea tempest) but the duke’s courtiers hate him for showing the duke their true nature. Faust is forced to flee. Although Hans Wurst is dismissed, he finds refuge with Wagner, Faust’s servant. Mephistopheles eventually secures Faust’s soul by making Helen of Troy fall in love with him. He also shows him that his generosity will not save him, because its benefits also had harmful effects on his protégés. Faust understands that he is damned, takes leave of Hans Wurst and Wagner, and hands himself over to Hell when midnight strikes.

Augsburg

Vice

Cheekiness

Nature

Navy

Brokers

Scatology

Crucifix

Hell

Vanity

First page of the play in Johann Scheible's edition, Das Kloster, 1847

Ein Trauerspiel in 3 Theilen und 9 Aufzügen. (Vom Augsburger Puppentheater.)

Genie

Guardian angel

Satan

Hanswurst

Duke of Parma

Dilemma

Instrumental tune

Board

Improvised scene

Apparition

Flying machine

Diorama

Johann Faust

Charon asks Pluto – the ruler of the underworld – to make devils deliver more souls to him. In Wittenberg, Doctor Faust dreams of knowing everything there is to know and learns necromancy: he then makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles. They leave together for Prague, where they make Alexander the Great and his wife Padamera appear. When he is back in Wittenberg, Faust wants to repent, but Mephistopheles tempts him by offering him the fair Helen of Troy. In the end, during a dinner with his students, everyone abandons Faust: he knows that his final hour has come. At midnight, he will be damned.

Prague

Antisemitism

First page of the play in Johann Scheible's Das Kloster, 1847

Charon

Angel

Pickelhering

Student

Noble

Alexander The Great

Prologue

Address to the public

Doktor Johann Faust

Wagner hires Casper to serve his master—Doctor Faust. Destitute and crippled with debts, the latter makes a deal with the devil Mefisdofles: he will make him rich by helping him invent printing. In return, Mefisdofles demands that Faust sacrifice his parents and his wife. Faust murders his father, who has come to blame him for the death of his mother (she died of grief when she learnt that her son made a deal with the Devil). Meanwhile, Mefisdofles poisons Faust’s wife. Then Mefisdofles takes Faust and Casper to the court of Parma. But the courtiers envy the famous scholar and conspire against him: Mefisdofles helps him flee. Casper is sent to Hell, but he is soon let out. Everyone meets in Wittenberg: Faust repents, but he is then seduced by Helehne, whom Mefisdofles introduced to him; she changes into a skeleton when he tries to kiss her. At midnight, Faust is doomed and Casper, now a night watchman, marries the market gardener Anabakuduh, whom he meets in the street after curfew.

All audiences

Bille Johann August

Greiz

Typewriting

Poverty

Professor

People and history

Printing

Debt

Parricide

Matricide

Feminicide

Skittles

Poison

Dragon

Death

Nightwatchman

Farcical

Comical

Title page of the manuscript of Johann Georg Bille's Docter Faust

Voice

Fury

Father

Duchess of Parma

Minister

Neighbour (female)

Off-stage voice

Comic equivocation

Murder on stage

Aside

Echoing lines

Brawl

Metamorphosis

Story

Final wedding

Docter Faust

Doctor Faustus

The owner of a hotel is facing difficulties because she has been without servants for several days and one of her guests is very sick. Don Procopio and Don Enrico arrive at the hotel. Don Enrico would like to marry Don Procopio’s daughter. But Don Procopio has promised her to an American who is to arrive that very day. Pulcinella comes to the hotel and asks to be hired as a servant, but the old owner mistakes him for a doctor and Pulcinella finds himself forced to care for the sick man. Then, Marietta arrives, followed by Felice, who is courting her frantically. In order to get rid of Felice, Marietta tells him that she is married to a very jealous Spanish man. When Pulcinella arrives, Felice believes that he is Marietta’s husband and challenges him to a duel. While Felice has gone to fetch weapons for the duel, Don Enrico arrives and wants to kill Pulcinella as well, because he thinks that he is the American spouse of his beloved. At the end of the play, all the characters meet on stage and great confusion ensues.

Glove-puppet

Ferrajolo Francesco

Italy

Salerno

False doctor

Jealousy

Arranged marriage

Love

Duel

Italian

ovvero Pulcinella creduto medico chirurgo, sposo americano e marito spagnolo

Old woman

Host

Sick person

Guardian

Suitor

Pulcinella

Felice Sciosciammocca

Word warping

Sword fight

Slaps

Ha! Saverio!

Oh! Saverio! or Pulcinella mistaken for a doctor and a surgeon, an American spouse and a Spanish husband

Young Chorten and his guide walk through the Himalayas, forced into exile to escape the invaders who have occupied their country. Chorten does not want to leave his country, but the guide explains that it is necessary to continue living. On the way, they encounter a Yak, who will lead them to the neighbouring country. They also meet two other children, young Tsangpo and his sister Song, who are also on the run. The journey is hard and tiring, and the little Tsangpo cannot resist the cold of the mountains. Shortly afterwards, the Yak also abandons them. Chorten and Song are exhausted, but the guide convinces them to continue their journey. And finally they arrive: the signal is a light cloud of butterflies surrounding the children.

Young audiences

Cagnard Jean

France

Alès

Exile

Child

Childhood

Cold

Journey

Children--Death

Mountain

Butterfly

Poetry

Himalaya

Domination

Freedom

Border

Hallucination

Soldier

Humour

Flight

Pathetic

Fantasy

French

Storyteller

Allegory

Alternating narrative / dialogue

Talking animal

Disguise

Active stage directions

Animated natural element

Speechless character

Scene of madness

Scene fragment

Silence

Warning signs

Des papillons sous les pas

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.