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.

Rod and string marionette

Giant marionette

Not specified

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

Portugal

Lisbon

Printed

Magic

Dragon

Golden Fleece

Theft

Treason

Love

Unrequited love

Mock-heroic

Lyrical

Parodistic

Fantasy

Farcical

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

Portuguese

Jason

Theseus

Prince

Nephew

King

General

Medea

Princess

Creusa

Niece

Maid

Servant

Guard

Soldier

Choir

Enchantment

Set that comes to life

Avista

Metamorphosis

Flying machine

Love rivalry

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

Spying scene

Thunderbolt

Apotheosis

Final wedding

Dancing entertainment

Music

Ballet

Os Encantos de Medeia

Medea's Spells

The tailor Hanswurst is trying to become a spy to arrest the infamous outlaw Schinderhannes. However, he ends up becoming part of the band of outlaws and helps his partners break into the town, which they plunder. Outlaws relate that they have robbed Jewish shopkeepers. Military officials begin to chase Schinderhannes; fights break out. Schinderhannes runs away with his lover Julie. He repents his crimes and protects his future bride, who is crossing the woods with a dowry of 300 Gulden. He even kills an outlaw from his own band to punish him for gratuitous violent acts. Hanswurst is arrested by a French constable for having stolen a farmer’s pigs. Their difficulty to communicate, as they speak two different languages, leads to many amusing misunderstandings. Hanswurst manages to flee and then betrays his leader, who is finally caught by the soldiers.

String marionette

Trained animal

Geisselbrecht Johann Georg

Germany

Frankfurt

Manuscript

Robber

Antisemitism

Nationalism

Failure of language

Dramatic

Comical

German

Der große Räuber am Rhein

Julie Blasius

Mayor

Peasant (female)

Peasant (man)

Porcher

Constable

Recruiter

Tailor

Hanswurst

Address to the public

Monologue

Song

Comical foreign accent

Misunderstanding

Inn scene

Schinderhannes

Truitonne quarrels with her sister Florine – she is unhappy with her own name and reproaches her for being loved by everyone while she is despised. She would like to inflict pain on others and to be loved anyway. Their godfather Enchanteur Rotomago (Sorcerer Rotomago) announces that he would like them to marry: Truitonne with Prince Charmant (Prince Charming) and Florine with himself. Gilles, Prince Charmant’s servant , comes in and announces Prince Charmant’s arrival, but at first the characters mistake him for his master. When Charmant arrives, he immediately notices Florine, while Rotomago tries to draw attention to Truitonne. A Fée (fairy) steps in to warn him that Florine is the woman he must love. Rotomago bribes Gilles so that he helps him set up a trap. He will have Charmant believe that Florine has asked to see him. But taking advantage of the dark, they will make Truitonne come to the rendezvous instead. Thus, Truitonne poses as Florine and Charmant gives her a ring as a token of his love. As he believes that he is speaking to Florine, Charmant wishes out loud that a devil would carry her sister away, and his wish is fulfilled – a devil carries Florine away, but Charmant launches himself after her. Once at the cemetery, Charmant and Gilles meet an apparition of her that tells them that Florine is still alive. Rotomago asks Charmant to marry Truitonne, and when he refuses, he punishes him by changing him into a bird for seven years. Florine is made captive in a tower under the supervision of Gilles, who has them believe that Charmant died of sorrow and of an indigestion of rum babas. A blue bird (Oiseau bleu) enters her room, and Florine understands him to be Prince Charmant. He takes hold of a cane and hits Gilles. Rotomago, Truitonne and Gilles go after Oiseau bleu. The latter comes back to Florine and receives a letter brought by a Bourdon (bumblebee), in which he is told about an attack on his kingdom. Gilles glimpses Oiseau, shoots him with a gun then puts him in a magical coach that takes him to his own castle. There, he convinces the Seigneurs (lords) of his court to let him lead an army to battle. Rotomago appears and offers to give him back his human form on condition that he marries Truitonne. Charmant agrees in order to protect his subjects. As Charmant and Truitonne’s marriage is about to be celebrated, a Génie (Genie) appears with Florine. He transforms the Enchanteur into a turkey and convinces Gilles and Truitonne to marry, while Charmant will marry Florine.

France

Paris

Jealousy

Hunting

Wedding

L'Oiseau bleu, first page of the manuscript.

French

Magician

Gille

Fairy

Genie

Devil

Lord

Disguise

Situation comedy

Off-stage voice

Graveyard scene

Dance

Talking animal

Letter

Blow-with-a-stick

Gunshot

Apparition of a genie

Final song

L'Oiseau bleu

The blue Bird

Young candidates for marriage are swallowed whole by the Trou du Mariage (the Marriage Hole). Tévibar, who was swallowed, manages to come back out of the Hole. The Grand Sage Matoumoisien (The Great Wise Matoumasian) lets him know that this Hole makes the fake, the ugly, and the bad disappear; and because he was not swallowed, he might be the one who has come to forgive everyone and put an end to the threat of the Hole. Tévibar introduces himself to the assembly of the Grands Sages (the Great Wise Men) pretending to be who they expect him to be: Matoum. However, he has to accomplish three miracles and overcome the trial of the Trou de Justice (Hole of Justice). Tévibar makes the Grands Sages believe that he has overcome the first two miracles and then knocks them all out. He becomes a tyrant to all the people of Matoumoisie but ends up having to pass the trial of the Trou de Justice - it swallows him whole as he confesses to his deception. Matoum arrives to accomplish all the expected miracles. He transforms Matoumoisie, spreading joy and reconciliation but Tévibar stabs him. When the time comes to bury Matoum, his coffin is empty. Everybody bursts out laughing.

Glove-puppet

Shadow theatre

Albert-Birot Pierre

Donkey

Prophecy

Announcement of a messiah

Impostor

Levitation

Virgin mother of a child

Play on words

Cephalophoria

Racing car

Ugliness

Childbirth

Miracle

Decollation

Forgiveness

Reconciliation

Resurrection

Laughter

Philosophical tale

Serge Férat, suggestion of scenery for Matoum en Matoumoisie, 1937