After having sung the duke of Burgundy's praises, Polichinelle reappears with Madame Gigogne. Both of them start to dance. Madame Gigogne gives birth to girls who give birth to other girls. Polichinelle is delighted about being the grandfather of this “nursery” and promises that it will be at the service of the duke. He asks the duke to recognise him as the only Polichinelle allowed at court.

Rod and string marionette

Young audiences

France

Paris

Printed

Childbirth

Priviledge

Siege

Praise

Laudatory

Comical

Fantasy

French

suivi d'un combat naval et d'un siège de ville

Polichinelle

The Interpreter

Mother Gigogne

Ballet

Multiplied characters

Song

Childbirth on stage

Naval combat

Intermède de marionnettes

Interlude for puppets

Monsieur Sapin (Mister Fir Tree) and Monsieur Fagot (Mister Bundle of Sticks) pretend to be philosophers. They convince Polichinelle to do so too. After quarrelling with her husband Polichinelle, Dame Gigogne also decides to become a philosopher. Outside his shop, Polichinelle puts a sign claiming that he is a philosopher. Arlequin and Gille, who want to take revenge on philosophers, assault Polichinelle, but he defeats them. Monsieur Sapin and Polichinelle see Dame Gigogne walk on all fours before giving birth to many children. All the characters sing a vaudeville together and the children dance at the very end of the play.

Not specified

Cadet de Beaupré (Louis Poinsinet de Sivry, aka Cadet de Beaupré)

Passy

Swazzle

Philosophy

Revenge

Deception

Pedant

Woman

Satirical

Comédie en un acte

Gille

Arlecchino

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Comical entrance

Domestic scene

Final song

Fight

Les Philosophes de bois

The Wooden philosophers

A thief robs all the clients of a restaurant by hypnotising them. While driving a car, he empties three shop fronts and then electrocutes the police officers following him, all thanks to magnets. After a new burglary, he escapes thanks to a tram and a lift that gets him up into the sky.

Depero Fortunato

Italy

Anacapri

États-Unis

Annandale-on-Hudson (New-York))

Printed outline

Hypnotism

Manipulation

Escape

Tramway

Lift

Dwarf

Burglary

Burlesque

Italian

Chase

Magic act

Scene with Hypnosis

Ladro automatico

Automatic thief

Pulcinella serves the house of Lady Celestina. He comes back from a medical appointment with one kilo of English salt to purge himself. He leaves it in the kitchen. Celestina asks for a favour. He must pose as her husband, who is travelling, and sends back one of her suitors. But Pulcinella cannot remember the sentence Celestina suggested he told the suitor. Meanwhile, Felice – Celestina’s piano teacher – arrives. Felice is starving and drinks a broth in which the English salt has been mixed. Thus, when Celestina asks him to pretend to be her husband, Felice is suffering from stomach aches and cannot rehearse his role either. Then Celestina asks for her neighbour’s help. Contrary to Pulcinella and Felice, endeavours to play his role well – as he used to be an actor in his youth. When Celestina’s suitor arrives, Pulcinella, Felice and the neighbour all play the role of Celestina’s husband. Much confusion ensues, heightened by the arrival of Celestina’s real husband.

Glove-puppet

Ferrajolo Francesco

Ferrajolo Salvatore

Salerno

Hunger

Medicines

Husband

Seduction

Wife

Pulcinella

Servant

Felice Sciosciammocca

Music teacher

Neighbour

Actor

Suitor

Student

Off-stage voice

Misunderstanding

Word for another

Word warping

Disguised character (false identity)

Address to the public

Blow-with-a-stick

'Na purga 'e sale inglese

A purge of English salt

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.

Marotte

Leone Bruno

Naples

Gender

Wedding prevented

Burial

Birth

Unfaithfulness

Neapolitan

Il parto di Pulcinella

Teresina

Carnival

Thug

Old woman

Sculptor monk

Death

Devil

Cock, cockerel

Doctor

Midwife

Pulcinellino

Dance

Nursery rhyme

Cross-dressing

Enchantment

Egg eclosion

Storia di Carnevale

Story of Carnival, Pulcinella giving birth

Mouse Armstrong and his friend, the mechanic Mitch, are listening to a radio special about mankind's first moon landing. Mouse regrets that no one knows the truth: she was the first person to go to the moon, but the authorities named the human astronaut after him. To make it clear how she achieved this feat, she re-enacts the events with objects made for the purpose. We learn that Armstrong did research in Washington, where she was greeted by an old mouse who said that the history of mouse flying was ancient. Armstrong manages to get into space despite having her rocket plans stolen by a secret police agent, and ends up proving to the mice that the Moon, contrary to their belief, is not cheese.