The governor of Barcelona, Don Pietro, banishes Don Juan on behalf of the king of Spain, and he refuses to let him marry his daughter – whom he offers to his rival Don Philippo. Jealous, Don Juan tries to abduct Donna Marillis just as Don Philippo is about to take her to a ball – since it is carnival time. However, he is caught by Don Pietro, kills him and then flees with his servant Hans Wurst. In the woods, they meet a hermit whom Don Juan kills in order to steal his trousers. Thus disguised, he also murders Don Philippo, who went after him. The two fugitives reach a first inn, then a second one, where Don Juan invites the statue of Don Pietro, which is standing not far. When Don Pietro’s ghost arrives, Don Juan and Hans Wurst are already eating the salad. The statue summons its murderer at midnight, in the cemetery, and hands out its hand to take him to Hell.

Not specified

Germany

Augsburg

Printed

Seducer

Unwelcome seducer

Assassination

Murder

Serial murder

Phantom

Revenant

Servant

Morality

Aristocracy

Nobility

Valet

Spain

Carnival

German

Augsburger Don Juan-Spiel

Don Juan

Don Pietro

Don Filippo

Hanswurst

Donna Marillis

Lipperl

Devil

Guard

Hermit

Landlady

Statue

Ghost

Appearance

Final intervention of the devil

Letter

Disguise

Inn scene

Comical regional accent

Murder on stage

Apparition of the Devil

Bawdy equivocation

Don Juan und Don Pietro, oder das Steinerne-Todten-Gastmahl

Don Juan and Don Pietro, or the gruesome Feast of stone

Don Giovanni poses as Don Ottavio and rapes his fiancée Donna Anna in the Royal Palace of Naples and then flees after snuffing the candle of the king – who came running when he heard her scream. His uncle Don Pietro helps him run away – he will make sure Don Ottavio is accused. Don Giovanni leaves Naples for Castile with his valet Famiola. On the way, their boat sinks. Don Giovanni takes advantage of the opportunity to rape the shepherdess who rescued them, much to the displeasure of Famiola, who thought he had charmed her by posing as his master. In Castile, they meet Don Ottavio, who went into exile with his valet Brighella. The king of Castile promised him the commander Oliola’s (or Ogliola) daughter – who is also called Donna Anna. Don Giovanni tries to have her before his rival does, but he is caught by Oliola and kills him in a duel. Then he sees the monument the king had built in the commander’s memory, and he invites his statue over for dinner. The statue comes and invites him too. Don Giovanni goes with Famiola, and he agrees to take the statue’s hand. The statue urges him to repent, but he refuses and is taken to Hell. Brighella, who was chasing Don Giovanni, finds Famiola alone and offers him employment at the court of the king of Castile. The play ends with a scene showing Don Giovanni desperate in hell.

Glove-puppet

Italy

Milan

Seduction

Shipwreck

Haughtiness

Atheism

Rape

Comical

Italian

Il castigo impensato, con Famiola disgraziato in amore

Duke

Brighella

Commander

Anna

Sheperherdess

Word for another

Transforming scenery

Dialect

Don Giovanni il disoluto

Don Giovanni the dissolute

The widow Werner lives with her young son Ludwig in misery: a sad Christmas is coming. To surprise her son, Mrs Werner goes out to buy a small pine tree and some apples. In her absence, Ludwig writes a letter to baby Jesus, asking for an illustrated Bible: he throws the letter out of the window addressing it to the angels. On Christmas morning, a package is delivered containing the Bible he asked for. The donor is Friedrich Walter, an old friend of the deceased Karl Werner: he has just returned from a long trip to the Orient and is inquiring at the police station about the widow's address, when some officers tell him of the amusing discovery of Ludwig's letter. Friedrich Walter takes the widow and child under his protection.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Poverty

Reading

Education

Kasperl

Bible

Childhood

Crib

Piety

Sentimentalism

Social realism

Christmas

Realist

Pathetic

Metatheatre

Monologue

Chorus

Deus ex machina

Der Weihnachts-Brief

Christmas Letter

A dove is saved from a vulture by the knight Theobald and finds shelter in the knight’s daughter’s (Agnes) lap. At this moment, their neighbour – a widow called Rosalinde – and her daughter Emma come to ask for Theobald’s protection against Ulrich von der Wart, who wants to grab her land. As a token of friendship, Agnes gives Emma her dove. Ulrich has hired a robber to break into Theobald’s castle to put it to the fire and the sword with the help of his group. The robbers dress as pilgrims and stop at Rosalinde’s place. But Casperl, Rosalinde’s servant, uncovers their plot and tells his madam. Theobald, his family and servants would have been lost had Emma not thought of sending the dove to Agnes, with a message to warn them. The robbers find themselves powerless. Theobald besieges Ulrich’s castle, and the latter is killed during the fight.

Gangster

Middle Ages

Widow

Knighthood

Justice

Rapacity

Friendship

Pilgrimage

Castle

Drink

Crusades

Seat

Dramatic

Burlesque

Illustration by Franz Pocci for the first edition of the play

Nach einer Erzählung von Christoph Schmid in vier Aufzügen dramatisch bearbeitet

Knight

Dietrich le Noir

Horserider

Song

Off-stage voices

Story

Die Taube

The Dove

The bachelor Gripandouille courted Polichinelle's wife, Colombine, who rejected him. Two jealous neighbours, Mrs Cassandra and Mrs Cababuche, slandered Columbine. To warn her of this, Gripandouile wrote her a letter in which he made an appointment with her. But this letter fell into the hands of the neighbours. Gripandouille found out about it and, wanting to take revenge, told Cassandra that his wife had an appointment with a lover. In the meantime, Mrs Cababuche told Polichinelle that Colombine had an appointment with her lover. Polichinelle went to the appointment but, mistaking Mr and Mrs Cassandra for Colombine and her lover, he beat them up. Then, realising his mistake, he hit Mrs Cababuche because she had lied to him. The two shrews then urged their husbands to kill Polichinelle, but he persuaded the two men to go and consult a sorcerer instead to find out the truth about their wives. The sorcerer revealed the wickedness of the two women. The Gendarme and the Commissioner, called in to administer justice, hanged the two women to the great satisfaction of the husbands.

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Gossip

Vilification

Malice

Jealousy

Neighbour (Woman)

Unfaithfulness

Revenge of the husbands

Trap

Bad marriage

Shakespeare

Farcical

Satirical

French

Polichinelle

Magician

Police Superintendant

Colombine

Spectacular turn of events

Misunderstanding

Hanging scene

Blow-with-a-stick

Les Voisines

The neighbours

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

Thief

Debauchery

Forest

Licentiousness

Future punishment

Parricide

Abduction

Barcelona

Title page of Heinrich Apel's manuscript.

Der steinerne Gast

Zerlina

Peasant

Stichomythia

Improvised scene

Lazzi

Metamorphosis

Light effects

Running away

Love rivalry

Aside

Blind Boy, Cockatrice, and Columbus the Parrot are headed to Rome. The Magic Donkey refuses to walk because it is afraid of Cockatrice’s face, and until he wears a mask. At a crossroads where three different roads lead to Rome, they each decide to follow a different path and agree to meet at the Royal George, an inn. Columbus, disguised as a rich traveller, gets to the inn first. He uses the Magic Table to gift a delightful meal to all customers. After this meal, Columbus goes to sleep, and Oward, the innkeeper, switches the Magic Table with an ordinary one. In the morning, Columbus receives a telegram from the King of Rome, who is also the King of Europe, inviting him to his palace to meet his daughter, Princess Razzlemond, and to marry her. At court, Columbus tries to make another feast appear but fails. The innkeeper complains about his table being stolen, and Columbus is sent to prison.

Don Juan und Don Pietro, oder das Steinerne-Todten-Gastmahl

Don Giovanni il disoluto

Il castigo impensato, con Famiola disgraziato in amore

Der Weihnachts-Brief

Die Taube

Nach einer Erzählung von Christoph Schmid in vier Aufzügen dramatisch bearbeitet

Les Voisines

Don Juan

Der steinerne Gast

The Roman Adventure - Part One

The Magic Table

Die klingende Weihnachtskugel

Teste calde

Storie del Risorgimento