The rich Cassandre, desperate for his foolish and insolent son Pierrot, is prepared to hire a very expensive tutor. Polichinelle is hired, but his bad lessons in obedience, geography, arithmetic, morals and fencing immediately turn Pierrot into a brawler, drinker, liar and thief who ends up being hanged for swindling Arlequin, the cabaret owner. When Cassandra complains to Polichinelle, he kills him with a stick. Denounced by Arlequin as Pierrot's accomplice, Polichinelle kills the gendarme who came to arrest him. He is taken away by the Devil.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Relationship between father and son

Silliness

Cheekiness

Education

Lesson

Swindling

Comical

Farcical

Satirical

French

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Arlecchino

Constable

Devil

Slaps

Blow-with-a-stick

Headbutt

Final intervention of the devil

Hanging scene

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

Polichinelle précepteur

Polichinelle preceptor

Polichinelle has cloistered himself in a barrel to escape the world’s malice. Despite the pleas of Pierrot, Cassandre and a pork butcher, he is determined to stay cloistered (although he took the wine, the money and the ham they brought to try and lure him out). Everyone misses the old Polichinelle and his love for life, but Pierrot comes up with an idea. He makes sure that Polichinelle watches a puppet show in which a harmless Polichinelle has withdrawn from the world. The real Polichinelle is outraged – he knocks the booth over and drives the puppeteer out. Meanwhile, Pierrot takes the barrel away. Polichinelle sorely misses his barrel, which he claims was a trick to better swindle people. The policeman arrives to arrest Polichinelle, for “disturbance to civilisation”, but the latter escapes. Pierrot, who fled when he saw the policeman, comes back with his arms full of the wine, ham and money he found in the barrel.

Hypocrisy

Misanthropy

Cunning

Vanity

Wine

Money

Depression

Withdrawal from the world

Parodistic

Frontispiece of Polichinelle withdrawn from the World.

Pork butcher

Cassandre

Cassandra

L’Acteur faisant le personnage de Polichinelle

Actor

Manipulator

L’Acteur faisant le personnage de Pierrot

Theatre within the theatre

Hidden character

Apparition of the puppeteer

Polichinelle retiré du monde

Polichinelle withdrawn from the world

Polichinelle has married the rich mother Gigogne, but he beats her children or gives them away in payment of his own debts. Grigogne complains to his cousin Niflanguille and gives him his bag of money. Polichinelle takes it to buy a horse. But the Maquignon sells him a dangerous horse and steals the money bag. Niflanguille accuses Polichinelle of the theft; mother Gigogne wants to beat her husband, but it is Niflanguille who gets the blows. Gigogne promises her husband more money if he behaves like a father to his children. But as soon as a child refuses to eat, Polichinelle kills him and throws him out of the window. Gigogne wants to punish Polichinelle, so he kills her, Niflanguille and a magician. The surviving children attack Polichinelle who chases them away. The Devil arrives and takes Polichinelle away.

Silver wedding

Debt

Child

Theft

Horse

Bad father

Bad husband

Large family

Mother Gigogne

Niflanguille

Marchand de chevaux

Magician

Baby doll

Animal

Lazzi

Running gag

Character thrown out of the scene

Polichinelle et la Mère Gigogne

Polichinelle and Mother Grignon

Abu is an imaginary place in the desert, inhabited by Mica – a young girl who enjoys counting the birds that fly above her – and her grandfather, who teaches her a secret way to fly without wings. According to his magic formula, one only needs to listen to the wind while exhaling deeply. A giant slide represents a dune. Behind it is a springboard which Mica and her grandfather – played by actors – use to jump and try to take flight. Several birds and a dragonfly try too, but without success. Then, the young girl – represented by a puppet – tries again. She is swept by the wind: she jumps, sways, walks clumsily and then falls over. A dragonfly slides down a ski slope, blowing air to maintain balance while also protecting itself from the cold. Several contraptions, flying machines and planes arrive on stage; they are manipulated by actors. At the end, a mysterious character named Flyer declares that he must leave, because he may otherwise become part of the desert.