The Knight Soleie has lost his horse and weapons. He believes he has landed on a desert island. Tchantchet shows him he has not. The Knight wants to find his father and, once he arrives at his family’s castle, asks his mother about his whereabouts. She tells him that his father has gone to war. The Knight believes he can see his wounded father – a fact which alarms his mother. But it is only a passing vision. Tchantchet brings a letter announcing the return of the father, the Bon Ténébreux. The latter arrives at the castle, reunites with his family and relates his achievements, especially his duel against Don Quixote, whom he has killed. The Knight Soleie also relates his fights, one of which ended with Malbrouke’s death. The Knight Mastique, one of Soleie’s cousins, introduces himself. He asks for the permission to bring Soleie with him, on a boat, to free the woman he loves. The Queen Rosemonde worries about this journey and has them promise to ring her or send a telegram if the boat sinks. Mastique and Soleie have landed on a new shore. The Géant Bras d’Acier (the Giant with the Steel Arm) appears suddenly and wants them to pay for the right of way. He wounds Soleie but the latter kills him. Mastique tends to Soleie. They both decide to leave the island and are flung in the air by an Enchanter, who brings them back home.

Single rod marionettes

Not specified

Belgium

Liège

Printed

Knighthood

Adventure

Navigation

Giant

Comical

Epic

Parodistic

Walloon

Knight

King

Queen

Tchantchès

Magician

Monologue

Vision

Story

Fight

Apparition of a wizard

Flying character

Le Chevalier Soleie

The Knight Soleie

A young boy named Pepperl is sick and can't go out. With the collaboration of Kasperl, who replaces him in bed and takes the medicines meant for him, Pepperl escapes from his house to go see the Christmas manger. Arriving on a flying saucer and disguised as an astronaut, the Man on the Moon convinces Kasperl and Pepperl to escape the boring festive season to celebrate Christmas on the Moon. Upon their arrival, they learn that the Man on the Moon was deceiving them. Kasperl loses his memory of his life on Earth. Thanks to the intervention of the Girl on the Moon and of Saint Nicolas who brings him a musical Christmas ornament, Kasperl recovers his memory. Saint Nicolas, Kasperl, and Pepperl return to Earth, where they are awaited by Father Christmas to celebrate the holiday.

String marionette

Young audiences

Germany

Munich

Audio-visual recording

Forced marriage

Identity

Nostalgia

Sadness

Cosmic journey

Visit

Regrets

Countdown

Oversight

Crater

Threat

Astronaut

Journey

Christmas

Fantasy

German

Kasperl

Pepperl

Inhabitants on the moon

Grand-father

Saint Nicholas

Doctor

Dialect

Object coming to life

Disguised character (false identity)

Letter

Flying machine

Apparition

Entrance from below stage

Die klingende Weihnachtskugel

La boule de Noël musicale

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.

Actor and puppet

Glove-puppet

Shadow theatre

Italy

Brescia

Consumer society

Meat

Pollution

Famine

Cannibalism

Love

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

Metatheatre

Political allegory

Double characters

Hidden corpse

Blow-with-a-stick

Masked characters

Dead talking character

Apparition of the Devil

Apparition of an angel

Puppet theatre within the theatre

Chase

Tragic irony

Stabbing

Murder on stage

Scene of recognition

Splitting of the body

Revelation

Scene in the dark

Seduction scene

Dream

Thunderbolt

Fantastica visione

Fantastic vision

Miséria est un vieux forgeron qui passe ses journées à travailler le fer. Son seul plaisir est de prendre soin de son noyer. Un jour, São Pedro (Saint Pierre) vient lui rendre visite, demandant un fer à cheval. Comme il ne lui en reste plus, Miséria lui propose de prendre celui qui est un porte-bonheur en argent. Quelques temps plus tard, São Pedro retourne chez Miséria, disant qu’il peut demander un souhait. Miséria demande que ceux qui grimpent dans son noyer pour voler des noix finissent prisonniers de l’arbre. 
Quand la Mort arrive pour chercher Miséria, il fait un pacte avec le diable, avec lequel il gagne 20 ans. Au bout de 20 ans, la Mort revient. A ce moment, Miséria lui demande un dernier souhait : qu’elle grimpe à l’arbre pour lui chercher une noix. Ainsi, la Mort devient prisonnière du noyer. Tant qu'elle est prisonnière de l'arbre, le soleil ne se couche plus, il n’y a plus de vent, les feuilles restent immobiles ; le monde s’est arrêté. Miséria finit pas libérer la Mort à condition qu’elle lui promette la vie éternelle. La Mort accepte, mais le prévient qu’il regrettera son souhait. La pièce finit avec le vieux forgeron qui travaille le fer, se plaignant de son sort : son arbre qui était la raison de son existence vient de mourir et il reste condamné à la vie éternelle.

Rod puppet

Full-view manipulation

Adults

Portugal

Porto

Magalhães Álvaro

Electronic text

Old age

Tree

Deal with the Devil

Tale

Desires

Human condition

Future punishment

Time

Immortality

Philosophical tale

Dramatic

Miséria (Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, 1991)

Portuguese

Old man

Blacksmith

Devil

Saint Peter

Apparition of a Saint

Narrator

Apparition of Death

Peasant accent

Change of voice

Smoke

Music

Miséria

Misère

A cuntista (storyteller) relates that Carlo Magno has thrown a party for the birth of his first child, gathering the paladins of France and foreign knights. Princess Angelica arrives accompanied by her brother Argalia and four giants. Angelica and Carlo Magno make a deal: the first knight to defeat Argalia in a spear duel will get to marry the princess, but those that will be defeated will be made prisoners. Every paladin and every foreign knight want to fight. Malagigi, the necromancer, discovers Argalia’s deception. He has a magical spear and Angelica has a ring that will make her invisible and will help her escape. Malagigi, however, does not manage to warn the paladins, for he too has succumbed to Angelica’s beauty and has thus been made prisoner. After Astolfo (the first knight to lose the spear duel against Argalia) comes the Spanish Ferraù who does not admit defeat and ends up killing Argalia. Astolfo and Angelica manage to flee. 
At the Royal Palace, Carlo Magno is desperate because an enemy army is besieging the city of Paris and most of the paladins (including Orlando) have gone looking for Angelica. Carlo Magno entrusts the command of the army to Rinaldo. In the meantime, Angelica falls in love with Medoro, a pagan soldier, and Orlando goes mad when he finds out that they love each other. Astolfo finds a hippogriff which takes him to the moon. The cuntista relates that Astolfo finds Orlando’s lost spirit on the moon. He then interrupts his story and announces that he will continue it later.

Armed rod marionette

Rod and string marionette

Palermo

Venice

Unrequited love

Moon

Madness

Travel in the air

Magic object

Deception

Sicilian

Angelica alla corte di Re Carlo

Storyteller

Charlemagne (King)

Soldier

Angelique

Astolphe

Orlando

Renaud de Montauban

Ferragu

Paladin

Oliver

Maugis

Archbishop Turpin

Peasant

Maid

Hippogriff

Ganelon

Sword fight

Undressed character on stage

Scene of madness

Fighting a monster

Address to the public

Interrupting

Dal Catai a Parigi

From Cathay to Paris. Angelica at King Charlemagne’s court

Abu is an imaginary place in the desert, inhabited by Mica – a young girl who enjoys counting the birds that fly above her – and her grandfather, who teaches her a secret way to fly without wings. According to his magic formula, one only needs to listen to the wind while exhaling deeply. A giant slide represents a dune. Behind it is a springboard which Mica and her grandfather – played by actors – use to jump and try to take flight. Several birds and a dragonfly try too, but without success. Then, the young girl – represented by a puppet – tries again. She is swept by the wind: she jumps, sways, walks clumsily and then falls over. A dragonfly slides down a ski slope, blowing air to maintain balance while also protecting itself from the cold. Several contraptions, flying machines and planes arrive on stage; they are manipulated by actors. At the end, a mysterious character named Flyer declares that he must leave, because he may otherwise become part of the desert.

Manipulated object

Lições de voo

Flying lessons