As he is hunting with his men, a king meets tumblers travelling from Bohemia in a caravan. He invites them to perform at his palace in the evening. Captivated by the dance of one of the young Bohemian women, the king falls in love. He accommodates the troupe for ten days and asks the woman to meet with him every night. One morning, eager to be free and on the road again, the young woman leaves. Desperate and jealous as lovers consult the oracle of the flowers just under his window, the king feels a surge of anger and officially rules that love is forbidden in the kingdom. Soldiers spy on the lovers, who still meet in secret. Plants wither. Outraged, the people are about to attack the palace; at this moment, however, the young Bohemian comes back: her return and her dance prevent the massacre. Cheered on, she marries the king and gives the lovers the right to love themselves freely again. The four-leaf clovers, which are reminders of unhappy times, are pulled up. The tumblers’ caravan leaves for Bohemia, leaving the young dancer with royal ceremonies that already smother her…

Shadow theatre

Not specified

Belgium

Brussels

Printed

Love

Freedom

Flowers

Lyrical

Front cover of the book published in 1898

French

King

Dancer

Young woman

Tumbler

Lady in waiting

Page

Soldier

Horserider

People

Young girl

Old woman

Poet

Singer

Dance

Character leaning against the window

Hunting scene

Silent scene

Spectacular turn of events

Procession

Voice

Le Trèfle à quatre feuilles

The Four-leaf clover

In a dusty underground passageway of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, several historical and legendary inventors discuss the automatons they have built. Each one talks about their inventions, dreams or utopian visions: a bronze fly to chase away real flies, a hydraulic theatre, giant automata with colossal voices preaching peace, mechanical lions and magic apples, two metal heads with superhuman voices, and an automaton that knows every language. Suddenly, a human automaton—the robot—appears. The robot knocks over all the characters and throws Jaquet-Droz to the ground, just as he was explaining that the word written on a sheet of paper by his writing automaton was ‘marvellous’.

France

Paris

Automate

Phantom

Science

Discussions

Invention

Remembrance

Rivalry

Merveilleux

Fantastic

Albert le Grand

Héron d'Alexandrie

Virgile de Naples

Regiomontanus

Roger Bacon

Thomas de Bungey

Johann Wolfgang von Kempelen

Léonard de Vinci

L'Abbé Mical

Jacques Droz

Automaton

Robot

Jacques Vaucanson

Inserting poetry

Aside

Apparition of a ghost

Off-stage noise

Succession de personnages

Destruction of a puppet

Au paradis des fantômes

In ghost paradise

The Conteuse (female narrator), with the help of the Voix Off (voice over), narrates the story of the Roi de Panelange (King of Panelange) who loves to change clothes. One day, two Tisserands (weavers) offer to create a fabric that only intelligent people would be able to see. In return, they ask for as many gold coins as there are ants in the kingdom. The Tisserands work in the dark in a big isolated barn, around a big loom. The Roi (King) sends his Prime Minister to check on their progress, but when he gets there, he is unable to see the fabric. He pretends otherwise to the Roi, so that he is not seen as “the First Imbecile of the Kingdom”. The Roi then sends his Cuisinier en chef (head chef), and another person to check on the Tisserands’ work. The fabric is invisible to their eyes, but they all pretend otherwise. The Roi himself goes to see the result of the Tisserands’ work, but the fabric is also invisible to his eyes. He pretends he is able to see it, so that he seems intelligent in front of his court, and he announces that he will wear the fabric for the next procession. When that day arrives, he undresses and puts on the fabric. He awards an honorary distinction to the Tisserands, and starts parading the streets of the kingdom. The fabric remains invisible to the crowd, who only sees a man in his underpants. They all pretend they can see the fabric, except for a child who admits to not seeing anything. The crowd admits the same thing, and says that they can only see their king half naked. To not lose any of his authority, the discombobulated Roi continues to parade as if nothing had happened.