Kom, king of the city of Polimicra, announces to his people that a giant is treading on their land. He promises his daughter to whoever defeats him: Occe, who is in love with Nec, therefore comes forward and offers himself as a champion. Although she pretends not to have feelings, Nec is secretly in love with the giant Ercole (Hercules). Vam, the Pygmies’ general, is in love with Has, Kom’s second daughter. But Has is in love with Occe. The envoy Brin announces the arrival of the giant; he describes him in horrifying terms: the giant Ercole demands the king’s two daughters, or he will destroy the city. In the gardens of the palace, Nec and Has see the sky darken when the giant arrives. Has is desperate, but Nec rejoices: either her kingdom defeats him, or she will become Ercole’s wife. In the panic, a propitiatory sacrifice is made to Mammon, while the battle is being prepared. Brin is trying to accept that he will be devoured; the general Vam suggests that they put the giant to sleep to defeat him. Has declares his love to Occe, to try and stop him from the certain death awaiting him; but Occe’s decision does not change in the slightest. During the sacrifice, Has prays for the people, while Nec refuses to pray for the defeat of the one she loves: her father sends her to the dungeon. Brin arrives, distressed: Ercole’s nose is showing - it was taken for a mobile rock – and Ercole is asking for the king’s daughters. The giant makes fun of Occe, who is trying to fight him. Vam fills the place with smoke. Ercole sneezes: everyone falls to the ground and believes that they are being punished by the gods. They try to flee, but are stopped by Ercole’s hand. Only Nec stands before Ercole to declare her love. Out of pity and admiration for her bravery, Ercole commands Nec and Occe to marry, as well as Vam and Has, and he decides to spare everyone.

String marionette

Not specified

Martello Pier Jacopo

Italy

Rome

Printed

Giant

Pygmies

Threat

Sneezing

Wedding

Humorous

Burlesque

Parodistic

Pier Jacopo Martello, Lo starnuto d'Ercole. Teatro italiano, Parte ultima. Bologna: Lelie Dalla Volpe, 1723.

Italian

Hercules

King

Princess

Prince

General

Messenger

Playing with scale

Music

Chorus

Public announcement

Monologue

Invisible character

Confinement

Fight between an actor and a puppet

Ridiculous fight

Earthquake

Character thrown in the air

Final wedding

Lo starnuto d'Ercole

Hercules's sneeze

Kasperl tracks down the poacher Mathias Klostermeier, known as ‘Hiesel’ in Bavaria, whose head has been put up for a bounty. But Hiesel meets him at Leder's inn: in a predicament, Kasperl agrees to join his gang. Shortly afterwards, Hiesel kills a gamekeeper in a duel. However, Hiesel's companions plot a robbery in Derferding, despite their leader's disagreement, as he does not want to be involved in banditry: once their plan has succeeded, they must all flee to Switzerland. Meanwhile, they are attacked by Captain Schädel and his troops, who have tracked them down thanks to Kasperl's indiscretion. The poachers are sentenced to death and taken away to be executed. During the trial, Kasperl answers questions incorrectly and the curtain falls on a brawl in the courtroom.

Germany

Landsberg am Lech

Robber

Gangster

Poacher

Forest

Wood

Justice

Judgment

Bavaria

Money

Poverty

Credit

Debt

Dramatic

German

Mathias Klostermeier ; Die unglücklichen Wildschützen ; Das lustige Elend

Der Bayrische Hiesel

Bandit

Kasperl

Waitress

Landlady

Gamekeeper

Captain

Public servant

Secretary

Soldier

Hunter

Peasant (man)

Court usher

Misunderstanding

Unexpected turn of events

Inn scene

Word for another

Murder on stage

Song

Off-stage voice

Plot twist

Dialect

Parodic trial

Yodel

Mathias Klostermeir

Mathias Klostermayer

Arriving in China after a failed emigration to America, Kasperl finds himself in the service of the Mandarin Quingquing, Emperor Schunschi's "Minister of Confused Affairs". While styling his master's pigtail for the audience, Kasperl gets annoyed at not understanding what Quingquing is saying in Chinese and slaps him to death. Kasperl disguises himself as a Mandarin and goes to the hearing in his place, where he argues with Schunschi. When Schunschi retires, he asks for a drink. A barrel is brought to him, but opening it is an actual Chinese puzzle. The ghost of Quingquing finally emerges. Kasperl knocks him out and then resolves to drink tea, promising himself to return to Germany without delay.

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Pigtail

Phantom

Despotism

Triviality

Minister

Barrel

Emigration

Journey

China

Farcical

Emperor

Valet de chambre

Slave

Apparition

Disguise

Macaronism

Hyperbolic action

Talking at cross-purposes

Parody of formal language

Slaps

Kasperl in China

Two inhabitants from Gotham run into each other on a bridge. The first inhabitant asks the second one where he is going and what he is about to do. The second one answers that he is going to Gotham, and the first one adds that he is headed to Nottingham to buy sheep. After many misunderstandings, the second citizen states that he will forbid the first one to cross the bridge upon his return. They both fight with wooden sticks without actually hitting each other, and they raise a cloud of dust. A third inhabitant arrives with a donkey that carries sacks of wheat grains. He makes fun of them, and asks them to empty the sacks into the river to explain that their heads are as empty as these bags.

Glove-puppet

Craig Edward Gordon

Rapallo

Great Britain

London

Madness

Peasant

Comical

Satirical

Absurd

English

A Blithering Interlude for Burattini

Archaic speech

Comedy of language

Blow-with-a-stick

The Three Men of Gotham

Les Trois Hommes de Gotham

Christine is in love with Heini, a law student, but her father has promised to give her in marriage to the apothecary, a character so conceited and ridiculous that she cannot tolerate him. Heini resolves to leave for Leipzig in order to finish law school and he makes Christine promise that she will resist the apothecary’s advances in the meantime. The apothecary, however, learns that an uncle has bequeathed his fortune to him before he passed away, provided that he would marry his niece: he easily forgets about Christine. But his baseless allegations about Christine offend her father, and, as he is furious with the apothecary, he calls Heini back in order to organise the wedding of the young lovers.