Don Juan witnesses Donna Amarilles' declaration of love to Don Philippo and decides to get to the meeting place before his rival. Through the intervention of his servant Hans Wurst, he asks his father Don Alfaro for ten thousand thalers. The latter has two coins given to them, so that they can both buy ropes to hang themselves. Don Juan beats his father and robs him. He tries to abduct Donna Amarilles but he is caught by her father, Don Pedro, and kills him. The boat Don Juan and Hans Wurst flee on sinks but they both survive and find shelter with a hermit in the woods. Don Juan is disguised – he is wearing the hermit’s trousers – and kills Don Philippo who was chasing him. He then tries to rape a shepherdess and a princess he met in the woods. He kills the princess because she was fighting him. Don Juan and Hans Wurst finally reach the cemetery where Don Pedro’s equestrian statue stands, and they invite him over for dinner. The statue agrees, but in the end, Don Juan will go to it for a midnight feast in the cemetery. Don Pedro urges him to do penance, but he refuses and is damned. He then repents for his sins. An angel offers him forgiveness for his sins. He does not think he is worthy of it and is carried away by Furies from the Underworld. As for Hans Wurst, he drives out two devils who offered him a similar dinner.

Not specified

France

Strasbourg

Printed

Seducer

Unwelcome seducer

Assassination

Servant

Valet

Murder

Serial murder

Phantom

Revenant

Religion

Morality

Abduction

Kidnapping

Fish

Leviathan

Jonas

Forest

Cemetery

Didactic

German

Straßburger Don Juan-Puppenspiel

Don Alfaro

Don Juan

Don Pietro

Donna Marillis

Don Filippo

Sheperherdess

Hermit

Hanswurst

Angel

Ghost

Devil

Appearance

Flying machine

Final intervention of the devil

Disguise

Word for another

Dialogue between characters who do not see each other

Murder on stage

Bawdy equivocation

Light effects

Don Juan oder der Steinerne Gast

Don Juan or the Stone Guest

Doctor Sassafras is pleased to have a client as hypochondriac as Steinreich. This rich and selfish man forbids his niece Marie from continuing to see his secretary Schreiber, whom he dismisses. Steinreich envisions a more beneficial match for his niece. Doctor Sassafras makes a deal with the devil to summon Death. Schreiber then attempts suicide, but a gravedigger saves him, as Death is detained in Sassafras’ enchanted chair. The Devil realises that his pact with Sassafras is detrimental to him and breaks their contract. Death comes fetch the doctor, who turns to God and hopes for His mercy. In the meantime, Steinreich converted: he has become charitable and, most importantly, no longer opposes Marie and Schreiber’s union.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Medicine

Knödel

Usurpation

Drink

Surgery

Prestige

Wealth

Champagne

Misery

Forced marriage

Hypochondria

Vanity

Faust

Bible

Suicide

Sentimentalism

Farcical

Satirical

Comical

Pathetic

Burlesque

Title page in the original edition of Pocci's comedies

oder Doctor, Tod und Teufel

Doctor

Kasperl

Secretary

Death

Peasant

Domestic servant

Gravedigger

Apparition

Parody of formal language

Dialect as a social marker

Versified passages

Allegory

Pact with the devil

Song

Monologue

Off-stage voices

Philosophical dialogue

Final wedding

Doctor Sassafras

Following a brawl in the tavern, Kasperl tells his wife that he is becoming a misanthrope and is withdrawing from the world. He also leaves the role of the police commissioner. His misfortunes lead him to the European residence of the Egyptian prince Tamino and his wife Pamina, which is also the retreat of the aging magician Sarastro. The Moor in the service of the Queen of the Night, Monostatist (the Monostatos of The Magic Flute), helps Kasperl, who presents himself as a learned traveller, to break into the palace: he hopes that he will stir up trouble. The hungry Kasperl proves to be an extremely rude host, and the frequent visits of the Queen of the Night, which plunge the scene into darkness each time, add to the confusion. Sarastro is nevertheless prepared to initiate the so-called scholar into the mysteries of Freemasonry, but Kasperl mainly amuses himself by banging the gong and then stamping his foot on the lodge master's table: Sarastro forbids him to do so, they quarrel and Kasperl knocks him out, then runs away with the protection of the Queen of the Night. Pursued by Tamino's lion, he is narrowly saved by the hunter Thomerl, who shoots the lion. They then return home with their trophy, much to the amazement of the police. The Queen of the Night appears to wish the audience good night.

Opera

Freemasonry

Magic

Music

Mother-in-law

Egypt

Orientalism

Beer

Tavern

Breakfast

Black

Slave

Lion

Bureaucracy

Misanthropy

Classical music

Hermeticism

Esotericism

Parodistic

Fantasy

Queen of the Night

Dame de la suite de la reine de la nuit

Monostatos

Police Superintendant

Thomerl

Police officer

Un lion docile

Talking animal

Instrumental tune

Metatheatre

Address to the public

Transforming scenery

Casperl in der Zauberflöte

Kasperl in the Magic Flute

The knight Huldbrand gets lost on a stormy night by a lake and finds refuge with fishermen. He falls in love with the foundling Undine. The girl is in fact a mermaid, cursed by her people to dissolve into a wave if she is rejected by men, and to join them underwater if her true identity becomes known. Huldbrand marries Undine, but offends Berthalda, the adopted daughter of Prince Heinrich. When Heinrich visits Huldbrand, the fishermen recognise Berthalda for the child they had lost, but Berthalda rejects them with contempt. Heinrich banishes her from his presence. In despair, advised by the water genie Kühleborn, Berthalda publicly reveals Undine's identity and Heinrich curses her and Huldbrand. Huldbrand refuses, however, to abandon his wife and she takes him with her to live among her people under the waters, in a crystal palace.

Storm

Fishing

Hospitality

Love

Foundling

Wedding

Contempt

Faithfulness

Paganism

Christianity

Mermaid

Dramatic

Génie des eaux

Ondine

Knight

Duke

Cook

Trump blower

Chorus

Sung scenes

Scene of recognition

Brawl

Board

Undine, die Wassernixe

Ondine, the water nymph

Don Juan tries to abduct Admirelles – the daughter of the governor of Barcelona Don Pedro, whom he turned away to his rival Don Philippo’s advantage. He is caught by Don Pedro and kills him, then he kills his uncle to rob him of his wealth and leaves town using the sewers. Don Juan and Kasper hide in a wood, where Don Juan kills a hermit to steal his trousers. Thus disguised, he kills Don Philippo, who was chasing him. The statue of Don Pedro appears to him. Don Juan invites him over for dinner. After a shipwreck, Don Juan and Kasper reunite at a wedding, during which one seduces the bride Zerlinchen and the other seduces her friend Berta. Don Pedro comes for dinner and insists that Don Juan visit him in his vault. Don Juan goes back to Barcelona during the night, enters the tomb and is damned. Kasper fled without further ado.

Apel Heinrich

Saxony

Manuscript

Seduction

Thief

Debauchery

Licentiousness

Future punishment

Parricide

Barcelona

Title page of Heinrich Apel's manuscript.

Der steinerne Gast

Guard

Landlady

Zerlina

Stichomythia

Letter

Inn scene

Improvised scene

Lazzi

Metamorphosis

Running away

Love rivalry

Aside

Don Juan tries to seduce Donna Anna, but they are spied on by her confessor: An argument ensues, after which Don Juan is carried off to hell by the statue of the Commander. The Devil returns in the guise of Donna Anna to take away the confessor, who has set his sights on the young woman. Then the Devil takes the guise of the confessor to seduce Donna Anna. Virtue, in the guise of a hideous woman, tries to warn her off, but Donna Anna still prefers to give herself to the Devil. The Fool concludes the scene by chasing away Virtue and inviting the audience, for this evening, to enjoy the pleasures of love.

Shadow theatre

Bernus Alexander von

Femme fatale

Vice

Secession

Eine moralische Scene mit einem unmoralischen Nachspiel

Anna

Priest

Stone Guest

Virtue

Fool

Epilogue

Spying scene

Story

Gretl complains about Casperl's absence, as he always comes home late and very drunk. When he finally arrives, she gets angry and wishes he would go to the Gold Star or the Silver Moon (these are the names of the taverns Casperl frequents) and never return. Her wish seems to come true when a small gold star appears to Casperl asleep and takes him against his will to the moon. At the end of an adventurous journey through different regions of the sky, Casperl is welcomed by the moon; but, exhausted, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he is in his bed. Did his cosmic journey ever take place? No matter: Casperl resumes his tour of the taverns on behalf of the drinkers' association founded the day before and which has elected him inspector of drinking establishments.

Don Juan oder der Steinerne Gast

Doctor Sassafras

oder Doctor, Tod und Teufel

Casperl in der Zauberflöte

Undine, die Wassernixe

Don Juan

Der steinerne Gast

Don Juan

Eine moralische Scene mit einem unmoralischen Nachspiel

Casperls Mondfahrt

Ein Casperlerlebnis in 3 Aufzügen

Jeannot trois yeux