In the Underworld, Plutone (Pluto) and Proserpina dispatch their armies of Erinyes on Earth, ordering them to punish Odoardo, the tyran from Thebes. Filone and Ormondo, the King's counsels, are waiting for the King to return and celebrate his wedding with the young Erminda. Ormondo confesses his love to Pasquella, Girello's wife, who turns him down: Girello says that he will beat him and, taking revenge, Ormondo sends him to prison. At Court, Doralba, the King's sister, is desperately in love with the slave Mustafa. Filone and Ormondo demand that Girello be punished, and he is sentenced to exile. Mustafa gives him a little money, before joining Doralba and singing his love to her: as he is overeager, Doralba denounces him to Odoardo. Girello, exiled in the woods, meets a magician who introduces himself as the Patriarch of the abyss. To prove his title, he shows him several diabolical creatures. Scared, Girello tries to send him off, but the magician offers to help him. The stage transforms into the entrance of the Underworld: demons are coming out of it to dress Girello with kingly clothes. If he keeps these clothes on and puts a magic root next to the King, Girello will look like Odoardo, and Odoardo will look like Girello. Girello arrives at Court in his new clothes and announces a series of harebrained laws, before calling his counsels “Governator delle galline” (governor of hens) and “Segretario maggior della brachetta” (Secretary General of the (Trousers) Fly). He arrives without his sword, is recognised as Girello, comes back with his sword and is seen as the King, even though his servants think that he has changed because he is no longer greedy. The old Pasquella prays to Girello, whom she believes to be the King, asking him to allow her to marry again so her youth is not lost in waiting for her husband. As for Mustafa, who has been accused of trying to rape the King's sister, he asks for his forgiveness. Girello throws Ormondo and Filone behind bars, chooses Mustafa as his favourite, and tells Pasquella to wait and see what is coming for her. The real Odoardo, surprised to find his counsel in prison, asks Tartaglia to release them. From this arises a first misunderstanding, as Tartaglia cannot make sense of the King's inconsistent orders. Conversely, Mustafa thanks Odoardo for his good deed; the King does not understand why, and he puts him in prison, with Doralba, who confessed that she was in love with the slave. Girello asks for the lovers to be released, then he marries them and sends Filone and Ormondo to the galleys. When Tartaglia tells him about his contradictory behaviour, Girello demands that he be beaten with a stick the next time he loses his memory. Pasquello, begging for a husband, is willing to react positively to the advances of the so-called King, who swears that she will be beaten; Erminda is getting ready to spend the night with Girello, whom she believes to be her husband. Girello manages to slip the root in Odoardo's belongings. The King, standing in front of his doppelganger, fails to understand the situation, and he despairs when Tartaglia asks him to bow before Girello. In prison, where he was sent, Odoardo asks for his wife to intervene in his favour: it is Pasquella, and not Erminda, who answers him. At this point, the magician decides to remove the veil from the mortals' eyes—he turns Tartaglia into a statue, and tells Girello that he is taking his royal status away, for he has misused it. Girello tries to have him beaten, but the magician reveals the truth to everyone. Neither Pasquella nor Erminda knows where her real husband is anymore; as for Mustafa, it is revealed that he is the son of the King of Cyprus and Erminda's brother, which makes his marriage with the King's sister acceptable. The magician sets the example of forgiveness to the King by giving Tartaglia his human form back: Odoardo then forgives Girello.

Not specified

Acciaiuoli Filippo (aka Gran Burattinajo)

Italy

Ronciglione

Venice

Printed

Revenge

Magic

Apparences

Reign

Love

Social condition

Fantasy

Burlesque

Comical

Farcical

Girello, 1668 (front cover).

Italian

Pluto

Proserpina

King

Queen

Sister

Slave

Brother

Pedant

Counselor

Nurse

Gardener

Prison guard

Magician

Music

Play in verse

Prologue

Macaronism

Confinement

Avista

Demons dance

Change of social status

Apparition of a wizard

Apparition of demons

Interlude

Enchantment

Transforming one character into another

Disguised character (false identity)

Role reversal

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Seduction scene

Thwarted love

Love duet

Allusion to the audience

Revelation

Girello

The Wandering Man

Pulcinella, keeper of a psychiatric institution, is organising a ball in honour of his ward Corinda and her lover Florante. During the ball, Delia, a resident of the asylum, recognises Florante as her unfaithful ex-lover. Vaiano, a sorcerer who wants to marry Corinda, decides to stop the marriage: he tells Pulcinella that he is bound to marry his rich ward. Delia asks for Pulcinella’s help; but he believes that she is insane and in love with him. When she meets with Florante, he apologises and promises to love her: the old Garbina overhears the conversation and understands that he is about to leave Corinda. Delia tells Vaiano about Florante’s promise; he rejoices. The sorcerer gives Pulcinella a rock that should attract Corinda's love, but Pulcinella believes that the rock is attracting Delia instead: she is still pursuing him. Believing Pulcinella, Garbina tells Florante that Delia is being unfaithful to him. Disappointed, Florante decides that he will marry Corinda, but Vaiano tells him that Corinda found a new lover: the couple quarrels. To get rid of Pulcinella, he sends him to look for a treasure and tells Garbina that Pulcinella wants to marry Corinda for her money, even though he truly loves Corinda. These fake confidences spark global confusion. In the woods, Pulcinella rides a donkey; they are surrounded by spirits and monsters. Delia just asked for Vaiano’s help. He promises the young woman that Florante will come back to her. Pulcinella distrusts Vaiano and imagines that he wants to make him fall in love with Delia. Florante rejects Corinda, whom he believes to be in love with Vaiano; he also rejects Delia, believing that she is in love with Pulcinella despite her repeatedly denying it. Seeing Corinda walk into Vaiano’s house, he believes that she is unfaithful. When he stumbles upon Delia, chained like a madwoman, he is finally convinced of her faithfulness. The old lovers reconcile. Corinda, disappointed, reveals that she promised to marry Vaiano if Florante rejected her. Pulcinella is disappointed, but he refuses to marry Garbina.

String marionette

Villifranchi Giovanni Cosimo

Florence

Lucca

Fiancé

Unfaithfulness

Charlatan

Wedding

Heroic

Melodramatic

Pulcinella guardiano de pazzarelli, 1705 (title page)

Guardian

Legal guardian

Pulcinella

Ward

Fiancée

Lover (woman)

Lover (man)

Old woman

Love story

Love rivalry

Scene of recognition

Dilemma

Board meeting

Spying scene

Magic spell

Apparition of a monster

Release of a prisoner

Final wedding

Pulcinella guardiano de' pazzarelli

Pulcinella keeper of the insane

Jason lands in Colchis with Teseu (Theseus) and an armed escort; he seeks to obtain the Golden Fleece. As he admires the King’s beautiful daughter, Medeia (Medea), and her cousin Creúsa, his servant Sacatrapo is coveting Arpia, Medeia’s servant. Sacatrapo, hidden inside a sideboard, overhears Medeia declaring her love for Jason to her servant. Jason promises to marry Medeia if she helps him find the Golden Fleece. But he is in love with Creúsa: he declares his love to his servant and entrusts him with inquiring into the young woman’s feelings. The King is sceptical about the motifs of Jason’s coming and asks Medeia to find out about his true intentions. Because Jason urges her to, Medeia carries him on a cloud to the enchanted garden. On Pegasus’s back, Jason enters the garden, where he fights against a fire-breathing dragon; laid down, the dragon disappears into flames. Medeia summons Sacatrapo thanks to a dragon who spits the servant out of its month. Casting her spells, she makes the flowers of the garden move and transforms them into nymphs (which Sacatrapo sees as donkeys). Jason confirms again that he loves Medeia, even though he is thinking about Creúsa. Jason is preparing to flee with Teseu and asks Sacatrapo to go fetch Creúsa. The servant tells the King that Jason stole the Golden Fleece from him. Medeia, abandoned, confides in Creúsa. The young women order Jason to explain himself. The King asks Medeia to vouch for Jason; she agrees. Sacatrapo meets Medeia: mistaking her for Creúsa during a night scene, he reveals that Jason is unfaithful. Furious, Medeia buries him slowly to feed the dragons with him, and replaces his head with a donkey’s. He must look for his head in the depths. Arpia fools Sacatrapo by promising that he will discover a donkey with golden droppings; this donkey is said to be kept by an ant. Sacatrapo is determined to kill the ant and steal the donkey using the hat given by Arpia, which should make him invisible. Medeia walks in on Creúsa and Jason during a romantic duo scene; she buries her rival inside a mountain. The King begins a war against the Argonauts: Sacatrapo arrives with a rag on his head and believes that he is invisible. He and Jason are taken prisoners. Riding a chariot drawn by dragons, Medeia divides the armies with a river. The King disowns his daughter, as she raises a tower from which she defies him. While Sacatrapo believes that he has found a treasure, snakes come out of the chest he is dragging: he has once again been fooled by Arpia. Creúsa and Jason flee during a night scene, but Medeia unleashes the winds, leading to a storm scene, so that they are forced to go back to Colchis. The King pardons Jason, offers him to marry Creúsa and promises to kill Medeia, who escapes on a cloud.

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Dragon

Golden Fleece

Theft

Treason

Unrequited love

Mock-heroic

Lyrical

Parodistic

Summary of the play Os Encantos de Medeia (edition of 1759)

Portuguese

Jason

Theseus

Prince

Nephew

General

Medea

Princess

Creusa

Niece

Maid

Servant

Guard

Soldier

Choir

Set that comes to life

Metamorphosis

Flying machine

Clouds

Fighting a monster

Character represented in animal form

Night scene

Stormy scene

Shipwreck scene

Animated natural element

Battlefield scene

Battle against a sorcerer

Entering with vehicle

Splitting of the body

Headbutt

Thunderbolt

Apotheosis

Dancing entertainment

Ballet

Os Encantos de Medeia

Medea's Spells

The Emperor is moved by the sadness of Guerrino il Meschino, who learnt about his origins through the perfidious Brunoro: when he was an infant, some privateers took him away from his parents, who were left at the mercy of the waves. The Emperor convokes an Enchanter who reveals to Guerrino that he must go to the Trees of the Sun in order to find his parents. He leaves with his squires, Faggiolino and Giuppino. The journey is not easy and Guerrino has to overcome many obstacles, such as the encounter with a cannibal whom he manages to kill. Once he has arrived at the Trees of the Sun, Guerrino manages to communicate with the Oracle of the Sun, whose voice tells him about his noble origins and explains that, in order to find his parents, who are still alive, he needs to head west. Guerrino and his squires are helped by the Solitario (“Solitary”), who tells them to find the fairy Alcina. There, Guerrino risks being caught in her net: Alcina does everything she can to seduce him and make him stay forever in her enchanted garden. But Guerrino comes back to his senses, threatens her with his sword, and she transforms into a statue. Alcina’s statue reveals that Guerrino’s parents are living in prison, in a state of famine. Guerrino resumes his journey and finally arrives at Taranto, where he helps his cousin Antinisca, Queen of Taranto, fight the villainous Saracen prince, Nadar. It is he who has usurped the throne of Durazzo, stealing it from Milone, Guerrino’s father, and who has separated the prince from his parents. Antinisca and Guerrino fall in love. The Queen gives Guerrino permission to search Taranto’s prisons for his parents, and to free them if he finds them, which he does. When Nadar learns about it, he abducts Guerrino’s parents again. Guerrino, with the help of his friend Alessandro, attacks Durazzo and finally manages to kill Nadar. The kingdom is handed over to Milone, and everyone joyfully celebrates the wedding of Guerrino and Antinisca.

Glove-puppet

Cuccoli Angelo

Bologna

Handwritten summary

Foundling

Filiation

Quest

Journey

Power

Fairy

Epic

Guerrino detto il Meschino Agl'alberi del Sole Alla grotta della Fata Alcina Con Faggiolino suo scudiero

Emperor

Astrologer

Fagiolino

Page

Guerrino il Meschino

Cannibal

Innkeeper

Valet

Priest

Hermit

Voice

Alcina

Snake

Father

Mother

Head of the Guard

Unexpected turn of events

Fight

Talking animal

Fight with an animal

Statue coming to life

Parody of formal language

Nursery rhyme

Dialect

Guerrino Meschino

Pulcinella calls Teresina, his fiancée. He has already talked with her father and brother, and now wants to plan their wedding, but Teresina admits that they need to solve one last problem. Before falling in love with Pulcinella, Teresina was engaged to Vincenzo Carnevale, who does not know that their love story has ended. Pulcinella agrees to talk to him. First, Pulcinella and Carnevale argue, and fight for Teresina’s love. Then, Pucinella explains to Carnevale that Teresina does not want to marry him anymore. Carnevale pretends to accept this, but decides to sabotage Pulcinella’s wedding. He dresses up as a woman and seduces Pulcinella. As a woman, Carnevale is very attractive and also charms a guappo, Gennarino Cataclisma. When Gennarino realises that Carnevale is a man, he kills him before being murdered by Pulcinella. Pulcinella, Teresina, and the other puppets grieve Carnevale and sing the traditional dirges (nenie) that are dedicated to him in Naples. In Hell, Carnevale meets Gennarino and the pair goes to honour their love. But first, Carnevale asks the devil Farfariello to sabotage Pulcinella and Teresina’s wedding. Farfariello asks his friend the rooster for help: he sends off his fiancée, the hen Cicerenella, to seduce Pulcinella. Pulcinella murders Cicerenella and makes a roast chicken out of her. The rooster seeks revenge. Farfariello curses Pulcinella: when he eats the chicken, he suffers from terrible abdominal pain. A doctor comes to help, misdiagnoses Pulcinella, and calls a midwife. Pulcinella gives birth to a large egg. As he is about to make an omelette with it, a little Pulcinella comes out of the egg, followed by four other Pulcinellini. Teresina, realising that Pulcinella birthed five children on his own, is overjoyed: she will not have to suffer. She is still determined to marry him. They both dance a final tarantella.

Girello

Pulcinella guardiano de' pazzarelli

Os Encantos de Medeia

Guerrino Meschino

Guerrino detto il Meschino Agl'alberi del Sole Alla grotta della Fata Alcina Con Faggiolino suo scudiero

Storia di Carnevale

Il parto di Pulcinella

Pulcinella e l'asino del diavolo