As a conversation goes on between Cassandre and Pierrot (his servant), we find out that Arlequin wishes to marry Isabelle, Cassandre’s daughter. However, Cassandre wants her to marry someone else. Pierrot takes advantage of the conversation to talk about the rumours going around in town regarding a witch. Cassandre, sceptical, does not believe them. Later, Arlequin relates having met an elderly lady who turned out to be a witch. Shortly afterwards, the lady appears and promises Arlequin a magic power if he becomes her spouse. He refuses and runs away with Isabelle. Suddenly, l’Amour (Love), the Bon Génie (Good Genius), appears in front of Arlequin and Isabelle. He recommends that Arlequin searches for a hazel branch that will be their talisman. However, their plan is soon exposed: the whole Caverne du Sabbat (Sabbath Cave) quickly discovers Arlequin’s intentions. At the same time, Cassandre and Pierrot start looking for Isabelle and Arlequin. In the end, Arlequin manages to get the magical talisman and finds Isabelle. Pierrot and Cassandre, still looking for Isabelle, fall into the earth where an enchanted broom relentlessly chases them, but they escape it.
 Arlequin and Isabelle are still running away while Cassandre and Pierrot keep trying to catch them. However, it is almost midnight: the witch’s powers over Arlequin will soon disappear. At the last moment, the witch manages to capture the lovers, but the Génie appears and reminds her that the evil hour has come. Powerless, she disappears. The Génie promises to take Arlequin and Isabelle to a city full of happiness, and to bring Cassandre and Pierrot as well.

String marionette

Young audiences

France

Paris

Manuscript

Servant

Father-daughter relationship

Wedding

Love

Sorcery

Talisman

Sword

Magic

Chasing

Happiness

Comical

Fantasy

Le Balai de la Sorcière, first page of the manuscript.

French

Cassandra

Arlecchino

Pierrot

Daughter

Genie

Witch

Aside

Music

Magical disappearance

Prologue

Apparition of a genie

Initiatory quest

Apparition

Blow

Apparition of demons

Chase

Visual pun

Demons dance

Object magically appearing

Le Balai de la Sorcière

The Witch's Broom

A Ramoneur (Chimney sweep) falls in the cauldron of the Cuisinière du Roi Noir (The Black King’s Cook), an imposter who murdered his brother the Roi d’Azur (Azure King) and locked up his niece the Princesse d’Azur (Azure Princess) in a cage. Doomed to be cooked in the oven, the Ramoneur is freed by the Corbeau du Roi (King’s Crow) who tells him that the key to the cage where the Princesse is locked up is hidden at the back of the oven. When the Roi Noir discovers that the Ramoneur is still alive, he throws him in the well. The Corbeau asks the Ramoneur to retrieve the Roi d’Azur’s sword at the bottom of the well and to kill the Roi Noir in order to free the Princesse: the Roi Noir threatens the Princesse to kill her if she does not marry him. The Corbeau warns the Roi Noir of the Ramoneur’s intentions, and says that he is invincible; the Roi tells the Corbeau where the royal treasure is hidden to bribe the Ramoneur. The Ramoneur refuses the money, cuts the Roi Noir’s head and frees the Princesse, who wants to marry him in return. The Corbeau lives a happy life with them.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

Printed

Usurper

Cauldron

Oven

Well

Cage

Treasure

Farcical

Chimney sweeper

King

Regicide

Black Man

Cook

Baker

Princess

Raven

Bird

Off-stage voice

Fall of a character

Hidden character

Character covered in flour

Talking animal

Burnt character

Characters bumping into each other

Fainting

Headbutt

Character dragged by their feet

Character thrown in a well

Off-stage scream

Sword thrust

Stuck character

La Fortune du ramoneur

The chimney sweep’s fortune

Polichinelle, Pierrot, and Arlequin, want to marry Colombine, the daughter of the wealthy Cassandre. The three suitors are alike in their mediocrity; Cassandre asks his daughter to choose the one that will be her husband. To win her hand, Polichinelle gifts her a ham, Pierrot a bottle of wine, and Arlequin a dandelion bouquet. She violently rejects Polichinelle and Pierrot, and chooses Arlequin. Polichinelle and Pierrot team up to isolate Arlequin, murder him and bury his corpse. They plan on pretending to be Arlequin and his valet in order to marry Colombine and get hold of her father’s money. However, Arlequin, exhumed and reanimated by a pig, arrives just in time to interrupt the wedding between Pierrot (who took his appearance) and Colombine. Pierrot and Arlequin made the pig, the only witness of their crime, disappear (they ate it), so Cassandre does not know what is the truth and who the real Arlequin is. He will accept as the real Arlequin the one who will bring him 1,000 écus. However, Arlequin is poor, and Pierrot gained 1,000 écus after selling his kitchenware: he will marry Colombine the next day. Distressed by their conscience and their gut issues, Pierrot and Polichinelle suffer from a terrible Cauchemar (Nightmare) accompanied with a Gendarme-Saucisse (Sausage-Constable) and a Commissaire-Andouille (Andouille-Superintendent) who repeatedly hit them. Polichinelle and Pierrot call for help, admit to their crimes and express remorse. Colombine and Arlequin can now marry.

Not specified

Conspiracy

Murder

Cipidity

Gluttony

Disguise

Deception

Nightmare

Marrying for money

Remorse

Relationship between man and animal

Hunger

Parodistic

Grotesque

Duranty, ilustration for "La Tragédie d'Arlequin" (Théâtre des marionnettes du Jardin des Tuileries, 1862).

Cassandre

Colombina

Colombine

Polichinelle

Scrap metal dealer

Constable

Police Superintendant

Dream

Spectacular turn of events

Dance

Song

Bucket of water poured on someone's head

Blow-with-a-stick

Ellipsis

Beating with pots

Dinner scene

Back Stroke

Personification

La Tragédie d'Arlequin

Arlequin’s tragedy

Polichinelle and Pierrot earn their living as woodcutters in a forest. The Genie of Benevolence and Charity appears to them in the guise of an old, hungry beggar. Against Polichinelle's advice, Pierrot shares their meagre meal with him. To reward him, the Genie gives Pierrot a magic wand (the ‘talisman’) that will grant all his wishes, provided they are just. But Pierrot, satisfied with his lot, desires nothing. He therefore grants Polichinelle's wishes: to eat and drink abundantly, to wear fine clothes and to be transported home to impress his wife. Meanwhile, in the Polichinelle cottage, Mrs Polichinelle complains to her neighbour, Mrs Gripanchu, about her husband's violence and laziness, and consoles herself by drinking wine. Polichinelle then bursts in, gets angry with his wife and violently chases Mrs Gripanchu away. Mrs Polichinelle tries to appease her husband. Pierrot arrives and tries to calm the couple down, but Polichinelle takes his wand and hits his wife with it. The Devil then appears and carries Mrs Polichinelle away, much to her husband's satisfaction.
Polichinelle then encourages Pierrot to use the magic wand to break into the house of Gripouillard, a crooked financier, and learn from him how to become rich. Pierrot and Polichinelle appear in his living room during his dinner. Gripouillard wants to flee, but Pierrot touches him with the talisman, wishing him to become virtuous. Transformed, the financier donates all his possessions to Polichinelle and Pierrot. While Pierrot rejoices at having brought justice, Polichinelle wants to take advantage of Gripouillard's riches. He grabs the talisman and wishes for Pierrot to be sent five hundred feet underground. Pierrot finds himself locked up in the kingdom of a Gnome who believes he has come to steal his riches. Finally convinced of Pierrot's honesty, the Gnome agrees to release him, on condition that Pierrot promises to use his talisman to transform him into the Genie of the Air. Once at the top of the magic mountain, Pierrot invokes the Genie of Good to ask for his help. The Genie tells Pierrot that he can only recover his talisman by changing Polichinelle's true nature through kindness. Through a vision, he shows him Polichinelle settled in the Manor of Eagles, where he now calls himself the Count of Polinel. Pierrot goes to the manor, where he finds Gripouillard in rags but happy.
The ruthless Polichinelle has Pierrot arrested and wants to have him hanged. The Genie of Good then appears and frees Pierrot. Far from repenting, Polichinelle threatens the Genie with the talisman, but the Genie transports Pierrot and Polichinelle to the Palace of the Genies. Polichinelle is condemned to be taken to Hell by the Devil. Pierrot asks the Genie to fulfil his promise to the Gnome, but the Genie refuses and replies that if the Gnome wants to steal, he should become a financier. The Genies organise a grand celebration in honour of Pierrot, the only good man, and the play ends on a high note.