Surprised by a downpour, Prince Alfred and his companion von Edelfels take refuge in Casperl’s household while Grethl waits for her husband to return from the inn. Casperl arrives in a very drunken state and immediately falls asleep. The prince, who had retired with von Edelfels to a nearby hovel, has an idea for a joke. He has the sleeping Casperl taken to a luxurious room, where he is treated with full honours. Soon Casperl does not know whether he is Casperl or Prince Schnuri... Pretending to be his doctor, Prince Alfred gives him a sleeping pill, and Casperl wakes up a few hours later in his old room. Von Edelfels, disguised as a magician, assures him that he is indeed Prince Schnuri, but that as a punishment for being a drunkard he has been turnt into a ‘dumb man’. Casperl finds Grethl and promises to make amends, all while announcing that he will drink many more litres of beer.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Excessive drinking

Household

Rain

Joke

Aristocracy

Luxury

Sausage

Metempsychosis

Black

Doctor

Magic

Otto von Bismarck

Tavern

Comical

German

Moralische Komödie in drei Aufzügen

Prince

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Moorish

Valet

Monologue

Off-stage voices

Spying scene

Parody of formal language

Word for another

Disguise

Cross-dressing

Brawl

Pyrotechnics

Board

Current affairs

Incognito

Casperl als Prinz

Casperl prince

Casperl inherits money from his neighbor Frau Bas, who recently died: it's a fortune. He passes a miserable evening, tormented by the idea that people are plotting to steal his money. He even cries out about a fire. The next day, Grethel buys the latest style of toilet, hires a cook… Casperl goes out to drink at the tavern with his friend, the hunter Tomerl. However, when he returns, the notary Stahlfeder is there to announce to the cleaners that Madame Casperl's purchases and the settling of debts with the tavern have exhausted the fortune of Frau Bas—there is nearly nothing left. Casperl throws out the notary and police chief Schnuffler, who came with a fine for nighttime disturbances. He then scarfs down a plate of Knödel that his cook prepared while declaring that he doesn't need money as long as he keeps his good spirits.

Burial

Coffee

Inheritance

Grief

Beer

Wealth

Fear

Night

Paranoia

Conflagration

Fashion

Knödel

Satirical

Farcical

Zwischenspiel in zwei Abteilungen

Thomerl

Hunter

Fireman

Notary

Police officer

Cook

Shopkeeper

Night watchman

Song

Chorus

Sung scenes

Final song

Dance

Die Erbschaft

L'Héritage

Three women – young Janet, her mother, and her grandmother – take refuge in a stable while a storm and the temptations of St. Anthony are raging outside. Janet asks in vain to be explained what these temptations are. Saint Anthony (called Anthony Perkins) is in a cell and only has his Halo, his Clock, and his Calendar as friends. He prays to Zeus to send him temptations, for they never reach him. Time flies, and he ends up dying of boredom. Shortly after Anthony’s death, the now old Queen of Sheba enters his cell, accompanied by Gustave Flaubert. The Queen of Sheba dies, disappointed that she could not tempt Anthony. Flaubert asks two eunuchs to bury them. Cleo di Patra appears in the sky, surrounded by angels. The play ends with a great ballet and a funeral cortege.