Catarina, a matchmaker, tells Zeferino, a barber, that the young Filomena would like to marry him. Zeferino is delighted and rewards the matchmaker with one hundred escudos to buy snuff. Filomena, singing, comes in to deliver bread. Zeferino confesses his love for her and promises to marry her and to never beat her. They both sing and dance. Zeferino wants to take advantage of Filomena’s charms and announces that she will have to work after her wedding, contrary to her hopes. He takes a stick and beats her. She runs away, and Zeferino tells the audience that other young women could suffer the same fate.

Single rod marionettes

Adults

Portugal

Borba

Évora

Printed

Wedding

Money

Deception

Love

Women's condition

Matchmaker

Comical

Erotic

Portuguese

Aria

Seduction scene

Erotic scene

Blow-with-a-stick

Filomena e Zeferino

As planet Earth is covered by oceans, molten matter is cooling down. Dinosaurs are cooing among the ferns, and the first rocks are starting to form. A naked man from the Stone Age is proudly mounting a horse he has recently tamed. Jules César (Julius Caesar), also on horseback, is posing. Then come the crusades, and Godefroid de Bouillon is proclaimed King of Jerusalem. Centuries later, his equestrian statue is erected on the Royal Square. The horse is replaced by a boat. The city and its port reach the highest point of their history.

Shadow theatre

Not specified

Belgium

Brussels

Printed summary

Statue équestre

Nationalism

Géologie

Paléontologie

Darwinism

Essor économique

Epic

Illustration by Léon Dardenne from a programme of the Théâtre du Diable au Corps, December 1896.

French

Fantaisie lyrique en sept tableaux

Godefroy de Bouillon

Julius Caesar

Ptérodactyles, Plésiosaures, Iguanodons

Prehistoric reptile

Horse

Army

Christian

Boniment

Sung play

Apotheosis

Ellipsis

Godefroid de Bouillon à travers les âges

Godfrey of Bouillon throughout the ages

Mrs Lee confesses her love to her Gardener, in front of her husband. The Gardener snorts in response. She gives herself to him, thrilled by the idea of joining their souls. As they are making love, the Gardener slits her throat with his scythe. Mr. Lee, who witnessed everything from the room where the audience is, is delighted that everything was fake and that it was just a dream. Aha and Blindboy, who witnessed it all, decide to go back in the past, disappointed by the modern world.

String marionette

Craig Edward Gordon

Italy

Marina di Pisa

Garden

Unfaithfulness

Spiritual union

Carnal love

Satirical

Parodistic

Edward Gordon Craig, Uplifted Petticoats (front cover)

English

A Highbrow Morality Play for Men Only

Husband

Gardener

Ahha

Blind Boy

Blind

Monologue

Address to the public

Murder on stage

Commentary

Speechless character

Blind character

Uplifted Petticoats

Doña Caracolines, the wife of the merchant Don Berrendo, flirts with Infiernillo more than she should. Infiernillo is a shop assistant who writes sentimental poems to court her. The parrot of the house, Hermógenes, observes them. Don Berrendo comes back from his trip sooner than expected. Don Cristóbal gives him the order to clear his name. But as Don Berrendo tries to come closer to the lovers, a strange power stops him. The puppeteer (Titiritero) appears to remind them that they are not the masters of their own movements, but that they are handled by him. An argument starts, with the puppets demanding their independence and fighting for the author’s will against the manipulation of the puppeteer. The puppeteer disappears. Don Cristóbal explains to the audience that this conflict is the same conflict as the one between external reality and the reality invented by art, and he demands that the performance goes on as if nothing had happened. Don Berrendo has regained his freedom of movement and throws himself at Infiernillo. He beats him to death with his stick, accuses his wife of being unfaithful and is preparing to make her suffer the same fate as Infernillo when two Guards appear and stop him. Don Cristóbal discourses on the misfortune caused by women’s romantic desires, but Doña Caracolines tries to seduce him and to give him a kiss. Don Cristóbal resists: he asks for the curtain to fall in order to hide this indecency. Doña Caracolines claims her right to rebel against the author just like Don Cristóbal has rebelled against the Puppeteer. Then she becomes even more affectionate and Don Cristóbal eventually yields to her kisses.

Glove-puppet

Actor and puppet

Spain

Valencia

Freedom

Revolt

Puppeteer

Playwright

Farcical

José Ricardo Morales, Burlilla de don Berrendo. Madrid: Taurus, 1969 (front cover)

Spanish

Don Cristobita

Parrot

Guard

Neighbour

Apparition of the puppeteer

Metatheatre

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Burlilla de Don Berrendo, Doña Caracolines y su amante

Little jest with Don Berrendo, Doña Caracolines y su amante

The play opens with a “Prologo in cielo” (prologue in the sky) during which the Teatro Vagante (an itinerant theatre) is brought down from the fly towers to the stage: the Teatro Vagante is at once a cave, a house, a cradle, a cart and a theatre. The actors have seen the theatre of the gods, which they have to try recreating now because “a mystery must be revealed”. The mystery is about a country where people are insatiable and keep wanting to eat fresh meat, even though resources are scarce. There are no cattle, an epidemic has broken out in the countryside and rubbish produced by their residents is piling up in the suburbs. This jungle of metal is thought to be the home of spirits called “rottamat”, which people believe to be responsible for the disappearance of several villagers. Everyone praises the butcher for his excellent meat, but he turns out to be an evil character who commits murders to supply meat for his shop. Just like the devil, he takes on numerous shapes: he is simultaneously the Butcher, the Father, the crazy man Matteo and the Emperor. Every morning, the Mother and the Father (the Butcher himself) wait for the butcher’s shop to open so they can buy the best meat, even when their son is in a hospital after having been attacked by the Father. The Mother flirts with the Butcher – who embodies her erotic ideal – until she becomes his victim. Nobody suspects the Butcher. Or maybe everybody keeps quiet so they can keep enjoying his excellent meat? The killings go on until all the villagers have eaten one another. Ultimately, only the Watchman understands that the Butcher is behind the murders, but even he is killed in the end. According to the actors of the Teatro Vagante, only hope remains: “even hell can be transformed – I hope”, one of the actors declares.

Brescia

Consumer society

Meat

Pollution

Famine

Cannibalism

Death

Ecology

Evil

Tragic

Grotesque

Lyrical

Giuliano Scabia, Fantastica visione, stage direction by Alessandro Marinuzzi, 1993.

Italian

sopra il taglio e la vendita di carne con cenni alla questione degli attori, dell'arte, del teatro e del mercato generale degli oggetti nel disarmonico presente

Actor

Butcher

Apprentice

Mother

Father

Student

Police officer

Fool

Smuggler

Puppet

Butterfly

Shadow

Voice

Emperor

Minister

Valet

Angel

Interlude

Prologue

Song

Political allegory

Double characters

Hidden corpse

Dialect

Fight

Flying character

Masked characters

Dead talking character

Apparition of the Devil

Apparition of an angel

Puppet theatre within the theatre

Chase

Tragic irony

Stabbing

Scene of recognition

Splitting of the body

Revelation

Scene in the dark

Dream

Thunderbolt

Fantastica visione

Fantastic vision

Upon his return from his military service, Turiddu discovers that Lola, the woman he loved, married Alfio. He gets engaged to Santuzza in order to make Lola jealous, and then becomes Lola’s lover. Santuzza, who is desperate, reveals to Alfio that Lola and Turiddu are having an affair. She immediately wishes she had not told him, but she cannot prevent atragedy from happening. Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel, and after having thrown dirt into his eyes, Alfio stabs Turiddu to death.

Rod and string marionette

Palermo

Typed or electronic text with handwritten annotations

Impossible love

Honour

Jealousy

Murder

Duel

Dramatic

Sicilian

Per opera dei pupi e opera lirica

Lover (man)

Wife

Lover (woman)

Gossiper

Garbage man

Lamplighter

Fiancée

Speech-narrative

Spying scene

Off-stage voice

Character leaning against the window

Knife fight

Change of size on sight

Cavalleria Rusticana

Rustic chivalry for opera dei pupi and lyrical opera

A theatre director has hired Polichinelle for the evening, but Polichinelle is late for the show. When he comes on, he is haunted by the ghost of his conscience, that chastises him for his very instinctive personality. Following the director’s questions concerning what is tormenting him, Polichinelle uses glove-puppets to play episodes from his childhood, when he was often punished for his misdemeanour. Once the flashback is over, Polichinelle wants to improvise some jokes, but the director forbids him from tackling political themes. As he does not know what kind of show to put on, Polichinelle keeps talking about his past – how his parents had him then abandoned him for lack of money, and his first heartbreaks. Polichinelle and the director argue. The latter summons Illness and Death, who want to take Polichinelle with them. While screaming that he is an immortal character, Polichinelle manages to drive them out – thus saving theatre and also making up with the director.