Fleeing his wife, Polichinelle steals a charlatan's cabriolet with Pierrot. First he wins the trust of the population with free advice, then he launches a subscription for a phantom financial company. When the shareholders demand their money, he sends them away with good words and blows, until the Public itself comes to threaten him directly. Mrs. Polichinelle offers to take care of the punishment. Terrified, Polichinelle flees into the forest. Abandoned by Pierrot, he walks to Hell. There, he tries to swindle Death and stands up to the Devil who, in desperation, goes looking for Mrs. Polichinelle. She brings her husband home firmly, with the approval of the audience.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Swindling

Hell

Marriage hell

Punishment

Forest

Public

Perseverance in Evil

Money

Capitalism

Bossy woman

Escape

Comical

Satirical

Farcical

Ironic

French

Le Charlatan

Charlatan

Polichinelle

Crook

Pierrot

Tenant

Lady

Peasant

Cassandre

Cassandra

Shopkeeper

Colombine

Valet

Death

Devil

Intervention of the audience

Apparition of the Devil

Plot twist

Blow-with-a-stick

Apparition of Death

L'Homme au cabriolet

the man with a cabriolet

The king's daughter is to be married, but she will only marry a man who is both rich and intelligent. Known for his wit, Arlequin arrives at the palace, only to be beaten back with a stick by the Swiss guard at the entrance. Desperate, he confides his misadventure to a beggar, who suggests that he should become rich by setting up a business in beating people with sticks. Arlequin decides to do so. The customers, who come in great numbers, make his fortune. But Arlequin, increasingly revolted by their wickedness, ends up beating his customers with a stick. Rich enough and threatened with hanging by the Commissaire, he gives his business to Pierrot for free. Pierrot hangs the Commissaire, who has come to hang him, and comes to ask Arlequin for an explanation. Thanks to his wealth and wit, Arlequin is able to marry the princess and have Pierrot appointed as the new Commissaire.

Wealth

Witty man

Trade

Wickedness

Revenge

Discord

Scruples

Arlecchino

Swiss

Beggar

Apothecary

Constable

Police Superintendant

King

Herald

Hanging scene

Aside

Le Marchand de coups de bâton

Merchant of blows-with-a-stick

Polichinelle stole a wizard's picnic and beat him up. The wizard made a giant hand appear. Chased by the hand, Polichinelle runned into an old woman's house. To get him out, the Hand trapped him with a smelly pâté. Feigning repentance, Polichinelle asked the wizard to free him from the Hand, then killed him and tried to control the Hand. But it threatened him with a pitchfork and carried him away like the Devil would do.

Bare hand

Hand

The Devil's Hand

Hunger

Thirst

Wine

Theft

Sorcery

Pâté

Cunning

False repentance

Fantastic

Magician

Old woman

Part of human body

Monologue

Song

Chase

Magical formula

Hands visible

Address to the public

Thumbing one's nose

Slaps

Punching

Off-stage voice

Final intervention of the devil

La Grand'Main

The Big Hand

Polichinelle and Pierrot rob a vegetable garden every night. The gardener sets up scarecrows. At first, the thieves tremble with fear and give up their loot before they discover the trickery. Then they put on the scarecrows' clothes to scare and hit the Gardener. The Gardener runs away, but he has recognised Pierrot and Polichinelle. He returns disguised as a ghost, but Pierrot and Polichinelle are not fooled and hit him again. When the Gardener wants to prevent Polichinelle from escaping, Polichinelle plants him in a pot with Pierrot's help. The wife frees her husband. They both fill a melon with powder and a wick. Pierrot and Polichinelle, mistaking the wick for a cigar, light it. The explosion sends Polichinelle and Pierrot flying out of the garden, but causes the house to collapse on the Gardener and his wife.

Garden

Vegetables

Scarecrow

Phantom

Fear

Hoax

Rake

Firecracker

Blast

Melon

Trap

Gardener

Gardener (woman)

Hidden character

Misunderstanding

Disguise

Pyrotechnics

Explosion

Collapse of the set

Le Revenant

The Ghost

The play is set in Cannes in 1871. Madame Palmer, her daughter Miss Kate (both Americans), Monsieur Balandard and his nephew Arthur, a young painter, are staying in a hotel. The young painter is in love with Miss Kate and paints her portrait. However, Miss Kate does not recognise herself in the painting and suggests, in Arthur’s face, that he find a “real” job. The young man is hurt: he draws a caricature of Miss Kate’s silhouette and complains to his uncle – Monsieur Balandard. Meanwhile, Madame Palmer organises an occult ritual with her daughter to find out the name of the daughter’s future husband. Cléophée, Madame Palmer’s occult “friend”, writes the name “Bal…”. From that moment on, Madame Palmer tries to arrange a marriage between her daughter and Monsieur Balandard. However, the uncle decides to help his nephew. To do so, he organises a fake occult ritual and hides Arthur inside a speaking bubble. In the end, the farce is revealed and faith in occultism is shattered.

Not specified

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

Nohant

Casino

Hotel

Bourgeoisie

Painter

Unrequited love

Arranged marriage

Spirits

Occultism

Eugène Lambert, George Sand, Maurice Sand : puppet of Arthur Dupinceau.

L'Oncle et le neveu

Balandard

Young man

Innkeeper

American

Woman of the bourgeoisie

Young woman

Situation comedy

Invocation of the spirits of the dead

Aria

Les Esprits frappeurs

The Spirits that strike

Captain Caricknagat, heading a ship of pirates, beats and expels Joe Miles since he made a move on his wife. Miles promises vengeance. The Captain and his team disembark on the shore of an island to find fresh water. They are attacked by its inhabitants. Captain asks a part of his troupes to bring his wife, 'The Lolita,' to his ship while he fights with the natives. Upon return to the ship, however, she is nowhere to be found, and the majority of his men have perished in the battle. Two days later, James Broad, the boatswain, returns. He has escaped and carries a message that The Lolita etched into a piece of tree bark. She writes that her body will be burnt and her head hung at the entrance of a cave. She asks her husband to recover her head, to put it in a box, and to bury it once back on their island (The Isle of Plumes). The Captain sends the last of his men to retrieve the remains of his wife, but it's a fluke, and only the Captain and James survive. The two pirates wait for nightfall to finally steal back the skull and the vessel before returning home. James dies of thirst as Captain nears the shore. Joe Miles, who is waiting for Captain on the island since being expelled from the ship, kills him for vengeance and steals his treasure. When he opens the chest, however, he finds only a severed head.

Toy theatre

Young audiences

Ireland

Strete

Piracy

Last will

Boat

Relic

Black comedy

Humorous

Dramatic

Jack B. Yeats, The Scourge of the Gulph, 1911.

English

Or Fierce Revenge

Captain

Pirate

Wife

Narrator

Gunshot

Murder on stage

Wandering

The Scourge of The Gulph

Le Fouet du Golfe

Martin is secretly in love with the beautiful Eleonora Lambriani, a mysterious dancer with a legendary reputation. However, he has already sworn his love to Sophie. When Martin prepares to leave in order to offer his life and his money to Eleonora, his cousin Cassian arrives at his house. Initially inconsolable because of the departure of her lover, Sophie changes from the virtuous girl to the woman expressing her desire for Cassian, then she elopes with him by jumping out of the window. Martin dies by the hand of Cassian, poor as a church mouse, as he has lost all his money in a dice game against Cassian.

L'Homme au cabriolet

Le Marchand de coups de bâton

La Grand'Main

Le Revenant

Les Esprits frappeurs

The Scourge of The Gulph

Or Fierce Revenge

Der tapfere Cassian

Puppenspiel in einem Akt

Curiosa muerte burlada

Die Fahrt zum Mars

Marionettenspiel in sechs Aufzügen

La Mémoire des serpillères