Janbroche – a cloth merchant – forbids his daughter from selling anything while she keeps the shop in his absence. To all questions, she will have to answer “really, Mister, nay”. Polichinelle, sent by his master the Marquis to place an order for a suit, takes advantage of this repeated response to take her to bed with him. When he comes back, the merchant Jambroche finds her with Polichinelle and forces her to leave the house without her breeches (“culotte” – an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down to the knees). The Marquis demands that Polichinelle marry the young woman.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

France

Paris

Printed

Seduction

Sexual intercourse

Obedience

Ridiculous

Trade

Deception

Farcical

Comical

French

Cloth merchant

The Interpreter

Pierrot

Polichinelle

Dancer

Marquis

Misunderstanding

Trap

Ballet

Dialogue with a character in the audience

Le Marchand ridicule

The foolish Merchant

Guignol’s landlord – Vautour – complains about financial hardship, as his tenants do not pay the rent. He asks Guignol to settle the previous months of arrears, but Guignol ridicules him extensively and then refuses to pay. Gnafron helps Guignol get rid of Vautour. They both fear that Vautour will have Guignol’s furniture seized, and so they move it all before having a drink together.

Glove-puppet

Lyon

Rent

Debt

Scatology

Furniture

Le Déménagement de Guignol. Lyon: Elardin, 1876 (couverture).

arrangé par Louis Josserand

Guignol

Gnafron

Landlord

Monologue

Fight

Dialect as a social marker

Comic distortion of language

Final song

Le Déménagement de Guignol

Guignol’s Move

In a prologue, the pirate Willie McGowan expresses his love for pillaging ships and their treasures. Yet he is weary of being assaulted by warships since the thieves generally attack in the morning when everyone is asleep. Many men die, and the pirates' only booty is a few bottles of rum. Thus, Willie decides to give up his ship and to return to his hometown to take up a less depressing occupation. Three years go by, and Willie leads a contented life. He works on a boat, the Gleaner, and is well-paid. The ship's owner, Old Henderson, asks him to accompany migrants who want to go to America. Willie refuses; the Gleaner, he believes, will sink after three days at sea. Old Henderson tries to convince him that if the ship sinks, he could return on a sailboat stored onboard. He would be paid a handsome sum as the migrants have already paid their fares. Willie again responds with a no as he does not want to deceive the passengers. Old Henderson accuses him of cowardice and no longer being the pirate he once was. Jessie Henderson, his daughter, encourages Willie to go after the money since she could not possibly marry a poor man. Old Henderson finally decides to make the crossing with his daughter; he dreamt he would find treasure in the old garden near the Point, and he interpreted this as a good omen. Willie digs in the spot Old Henderson described and finds the treasure. The master of the crew, Bosun Hardbite, announces that all have survived the sea journey, except Old Henderson and his daughter.

Toy theatre

Young audiences

Ireland

Strete

Wicklow

Piracy

Swindling

Migrant

Treasure

Renunciation

Shipwreck

Ironic

Humorous

Dramatic

English

Willie McGowan / The Man Hunter of the Gulf

Pirate

Sailor

Emigrant

Daughter

Singer

Narrator

Song

The Treasure of the Garden

Le Trésor du jardin

A Unicorn crosses the stage with a forest in the background, saying “Honni soit qui mal y pense." Three men are looking at it and discussing the best way to catch it. One of them brought a sixty-year-old Virgin woman who wears a veil, as the Unicorn is attracted by purity. The Unicorn feels the presence of the Virgin, draws near her, and puts its head on her lap. The Virgin signals to the men to catch the animal, unveils, and uncovers her true identity - she is Britannia. The Unicorn feels betrayed and dies of sorrow. The Royal Coat of Arms is lowered, and the Unicorn is placed opposite to the roaring Lion. A butcher’s shop appears under the coat of arms, and the butcher can be seen chopping meat. A child rings at the shop, and the butcher’s son's voice can be heard alerting his mother.

String marionette

Craig Edward Gordon

Italy

Marina di Pisa

Purity

Virginity

Hunting

Royals

Monarchy

Patriotism

Coat of arms

Satirical

Fowler

Virgin

Unicorn

Butcher

Child

Talking animal

Allegory

The Rape of the Unicorn

Le Viol de la licorne

Once again, Fagiolino borrows money from Polonia, Sandrone’s wife, and promises to pay her back as soon as he manages to marry Colombina, the niece of the wealthy Pantalone, and to collect her dowry. Meanwhile, Sandrone makes a deal to buy lands so that he won’t have to work for a landlord any longer. When he discovers that Polonia has taken money from his savings in order to lend it to Fagiolino, he beats her and swears to himself that he will do the same to Fagiolino. In the meantime, Bergnocla, a friend of Fagiolino, warns him that Arlecchino and Brighella are plotting against Pantalone: they have abducted Colombina in order to demand a ransom. While she is kept hidden in Brighella’s inn, they make Pantalone believe that it is the fearsome bandit Sebastian who has abducted her. Moreover, Arlecchino secretly wants to marry Colombina to obtain her dowry. Fagiolino, who is in love with Colombina, manages to foil Arlecchino’s plan: he intercepts Pantalone, who was headed to the bandit’s place with the money for the ransom, pretends to be the bandit himself and takes the money, so that it never falls into Arlecchino and Brighella’s hands. Those two are quarrelling because they each think that the other has betrayed them, and nobody suspects Fagiolino. They also think that the true bandit, Sebastian, is now angry with them because they have used his name for their own purposes. They beg Fagiolino to speak to the bandit and to talk some sense into him. Fagiolino accepts, in exchange for payment, and is delighted about the success of his plan. He pretends to have convinced the bandit to free Colombina and to leave Arlecchino and Brighella in peace. He finally goes to meet Pantalone so that he can be given credit for having convinced the bandit to free Colombina. Pantalone believes him and agrees to give him Colombina’s hand in marriage. Fagiolino goes back to Sandrone’s and pays him back the money he owed him.

Reggio Emilia

Money

Labour

Wedding

Kidnapping

Ransom

Dowry

Emilian

Fagiolino

Bargnocla

Sandrone

Polonia

Arlecchino

Brighella

Pantaloon

Comical regional accent

Domestic scene

Imbroglio

Blow-with-a-stick

Unveiling

Final wedding

Fagiolino in cerca di lavoro

Fagiolino is looking for a job

Esteban is the owner of a farm. He has a male servant, Silvestre, and a female servant, Oliva, who is also his mistress. Oliva really loves her master and she serves him so well that Esteban is thinking about marrying her. But he is wondering if Oliva really loves him or if she is after his belongings, so he explains to Silvestre the stratagem that he has planned to deploy in order to put her to the test: he will pretend that he has lost all of his possessions, and then fake his own death. Silvestre, in the presence of the supposed body, will have to feign love for Oliva in order to test her faithfulness. Esteban puts his plan into action. Thanks to the help of a fake doctor, Esteban pretends to die. Silvestre tells Oliva how he feels about her as planned, but his feelings are in fact true and he had always concealed them. Oliva faints, Silvestre carries her in his arms and the two of them run away from the house. Esteban sits up on his death bed and, taken aback by the revelation of truth, he actually dies of syncope.

Spain

Madrid

Fainting

Love

Death

Loyalty in love

Wealth

Farm

Corpse

Travelling theatre

False doctor

Tragic

Spanish

Farmer

Servant

Maid

Peddler

Fake death

Plot twist

Death on stage

Curiosa muerte burlada

The Strange Duped Death

The princess escapes to the moon by walking on a ray of moonlight. Her father, King Cyprian XIII, promises a reward for he who can bring her back to earth. Kasperl and Seppl volunteer and leave on a rocket. They find the princess miserable, forced to cook and clean for the Man on the Moon. Thanks to a trap, Kasperl and Seppl succeed in escaping with the princess. The king thanks Kasperl and wants to offer him a gift, but Kasperl is content with a piggybank—he had to break his own to buy the rocket.

Bertl Hayde (Berta Gründler-Hetmanek)

Austria

Vienna

Rescue

Misfortune

Disillusionment

Tale

Gugelhupf

Birthday

Kitchen

Women's condition

Exploitation

Fantasy

German

Ein Handpuppenspiel für zwei Spieler

Kasperl

Seppl

Inhabitants on the moon

Trumpet (military man/woman)

Town crier

Night watchman

Metatheatre

Improvised scene

Dialogue with the audience

Address to the public

Flying machine

Disguised character (false identity)

Aria

Die Fahrt auf den Mond

Le voyage sur la Lune

Kaspar is picking flowers in a forest for the birthday of his wife, Grete. He catches Hubertus the hunter about to murder Schneewittchen (Snow-White) following the order of Schneewittchen’s own mother, the queen Tausendschön. Kaspar convinces Hubertus to let her go and suggests to the princess that she seeks refuge at the seven dwarfs’ house. However, when the magic mirror tells the truth to the queen, the hunter denounces Kaspar and hands him over to the queen. She then tries to poison Schneewittchen twice. As she attempts it the second time, Kaspar escapes from prison and seeks refuge at the seven dwarfs' home as well. Schneewittchen passes out before his eyes, and he shakes her so much that she spits out the piece of apple that was poisoned with pesticide. Learning once again from her mirror that her daughter has survived, the queen gets so angry that she dies. Schneewittchen then takes her place on the throne and, in the final act, begins to behave as tyrannically and capriciously as her mother.

Fühmann Franz

Germany

Berlin

Mother

Mother-in-law

Beauty

Vanity

Haughtiness

Power

Reign

Jail

Poison

Assassination

Doll

Denunciation

Corruption

Pesticide

Forest

Fashion victim

Parodistic

Burlesque

Queen

Snow White

Hunter

General

Jailer

Valet

Guard

Das Spiel von Kaspar, der Königin Tausendschön und der noch tausendmal schöneren Prinzessin Schneewittchen

The play about Kaspar, Queen Thousand Beauty and the thousands of times more beautiful Princess Snow White