The fisherman Colin finds a golden vase in his nets. The genie Elemaliga is imprisoned inside it. As a gesture of gratitude for having delivered him, Elemaliga bestows magical powers to Colin. With this magical help, Colin triumphs over his rival Philippe, recovers the fortune he should have inherited and marries Lisbette.

Body shadows

Not specified

Marion de Salins Pierre

France

Printed

Swindling

Wedding

Love

Fishing

Seduction

Inheritance

Fantasy

Comical

L'Heureuse Pêche, cover page

French

Comédie pour les ombres à scènes changeantes

Fisherman

Peasant (man)

Genie

Apparition of a genie

Disappearance

Love rivalry

Song

Invisible character

Final song

L'Heureuse Pêche

The Happy Catch

With the hope of finding some gold, Pierrot and Polichinelle break into the Sorcier’s (Sorcerer) house, but they are caught by a Poule noire (Black Hen) that attacks them. Polichinelle runs away with the Poule, but Pierrot, trapped, hides in a cauldron. Panicked, the Sorcier calls his colleagues for help, and they all try to bring the Poule back using a potion prepared in the cauldron. Pierrot moves around in the cauldron (which makes the Sorciers run away) and uncovers himself. To punish him, the Sorcier turns his head into that of a donkey. Meanwhile, Polichinelle is starving and kills the Poule, making it disappear: the Diable (Devil) appears in its stead. To punish Polichinelle, the Diable gives him the head of a red donkey. Polichinelle and Pierrot come back and threaten the Sorcier into giving them their appearance back; the Sorcier tells them that he lost his powers when he lost his Poule. Pierrot searches through the Sorcier’s potions and finds a cream that gives him his head back. However, the Sorcier runs away with the cream, chased by Pierrot. A Cocher (Coachman) arrives, thinks that Polichinelle is gorgeous, whips him and wants to hitch him to his cart. Polichinelle defends himself with his stick and the Cocher runs away. Desperate to get his head back, Polichinelle tries another one of the Sorcier’s creams, but his head turns into that of a pig. A Charcutier (Pork butcher) sees Polichinelle and is in awe of the talking pig; Polichinelle thinks that he is insane and chases him away with his stick. Pierrot comes back with the remedy, and Polichinelle gets his real head back. Polichinelle leaves with Pierrot and encounters the Sorcier: he kills him with a single blow of a stick.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Paris

Sorcery

Naivety

Cauldron

Donkey

Farcical

Fantastic

Magician

Sorcerer

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Devil

Coachman

Pork butcher

Metamorphosis

Apparition of the Devil

Chase

Hidden character

Dance

Running gag

Blow-with-a-stick

Whiplash

Death on stage

Unexpected turn of events

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

La Poule noire

The Black Hen

An elderly woman lives in a cabin near a wood, with a teenager who believes himself to be her grandson. Some bandits steal a case holding documents on the young man’s life. The elderly woman explains to him that he is of royal blood; he decides to go avenge his parents. With the help of a powerful wizard and of other characters he met on his way, the Prince overcomes the tyrant who had taken over the kingdom, and is acknowledged by his mother. The performance ends with a big celebration.

Nino Pozzo (Matteo Pozzo)

Italy

Verona

Typewriting

Revenge

Encounter

Usurpation

Royals

Heroic

Italian

Old woman

Prince

Queen

Governess

Guard

Tyran

Rebel

Citizen

Fagiolino

Sandrone

Cook

Brighella

Prison guard

Facanapa

Apparition

Scene of recognition

Smoke

Improvised dialogue

La riconquista del regno

The reconquest of the kingdom

On a beach by the Tyrrhenian Sea, a woman invokes the devil Serpentone. She wants to ask him to make her invincible and immortal so she can return to her village and take revenge on her compatriots who drove her out, calling her an old witch. The devil arrives, preceded by his deep, dark voice. He is ready to grant her immortality in exchange for something big, something you can see and touch. As the woman has nothing to hand, Serpentone gives her until midnight to find an offering before disappearing into the flames. The woman then prepares a potion in a big pot. Pulcinella, famished, passes by and plunges his head into the pot to eat the soup, but when he stands up again, he discovers he has a big donkey's head. Having effected the transformation, the woman gives the donkey to the devil who takes it to hell where he intends to kill it and make a drum out of its skin. But in trying to kill the animal, the devil frees Pulcinella from the spell. Pulcinella fights with the devil, kills him and escapes from hell to settle scores with the woman who turned him into a donkey. She is about to drink the wine the devil gave her to make her invincible. Realizing Pulcinella wants to kill her, she puts the blame on the audience: she turned Pulcinella into a donkey because the audience asked her to. The "cynical and ruthless" audience responds, saying the accusations are false and the woman is wicked. The audience, thus involved in the performance, finds itself acting out the scene recounted by the woman at the beginning of the show, where her compatriots insult her and drive her out. Pulcinella beats the witch to death with a broom, to much applause from the audience. The moral is that people who are different will always be hunted down without mercy.