Raggou, a French rogue, has been sentenced to death by hanging and is running away from the police. He meets another Frenchman, a puppeteer on his way to the Bristol Fair with his puppet booth. The runaway buys the booth and swaps his clothes with the puppeteer’s to trick his pursuers. When the two policemen ask if he has seen a French runaway, Raggou, dressed as a puppeteer, is forced to improvise a short performance. He then stages three acts, in which the king of Spain plays the bagpipes for his privy council while king Solomon is passing sentence; the queen of Swiveland and the Whore of Babylon vie to be the most lustful; the king of Norway and Denmark teaches the bishop of Munsera how to juggle. Flea-fint, a looter sentenced to death by hanging and pursued by the police, offers to buy Raggou’s puppet booth and to swap clothes with him. Raggou agrees and flees. Since he would not know how to stage a puppet play, Flea-fint comes up with a plan in case someone asked him to—the key is in Bristol, therefore he cannot open the booth. The true puppeteer comes back, accompanied by policemen. He asks Flea-Flint to give him back his possessions. Flea-flint is thus sentenced to death by hanging, but the policemen do not know how to hang him: instead, they plunder him and spare his life.

Not specified

Great Britain

London

Printed

Disguise

Foreign languages

Comical

Burlesque

John Lacy, The Old Troop; or, Monsieur Raggou, 1672 (front cover).

English

Prussian

King

Solomon

Queen

Prostitute

Bishop

Thief

Puppeteer

Constable

Song

Comic distortion of language

Running gag

Theatre within the theatre

Improvised scene

Current affairs

The Old Troop; or, Monsieur Raggou

A Voyageur (Traveller) in a hurry is expected in a neighbouring town; he must cross the river, but the bridge is broken. Upset, he asks a young boy digging on the other side of the bridge if the water is deep. The answer of the “Petit Gas” (Little Guy) is not helpful, and he then mocks the bourgeois with a song. Then the two characters talk in cross-purposes; their dialogue is punctuated by the young rascal’s “tire lire laire” (rhyming nonsense in French), and culminates in the boy showing his behind. When he sees a Batelier (Boatman), the Voyageur hails him and asks to be taken to the other side of the river. The “Petit Gas” then throws stones at the boat, but the bourgeois manages to cross the river and canes the boy.

Shadow theatre

France

Paris

Mischievousness

Punishment

Ducks

River

Bourgeoisie

Appointment in town

Endpaper of the collection illustrated with shadow figures.
Source: GUIGNOLLET. Le Théâtre des ombres chinoises, nouveau Séraphin des enfants, recueil de jolies pièces amusantes et faciles à monter, illustrées de gravures représentant les principales scènes. Paris, LB-Bornemann, [after 1885], p.2

French

Le Pont rompu

Talking at cross-purposes

Argument

Aria

Le Pont cassé

The Broken Bridge

Don Juan murders Don Pietro, who came running to his daughter Anna’s aid for a villain had tried to seduce her by night and, failing to do so, attempted to abduct her. In the following scene, Don Juan receives two successive visits. His servant Hans turns out the first visitor – a creditor asking for his money – while his master hides. Then a judge with a court clerk comes to investigate the death of Don Pietro. Don Juan pretends to be someone else. He then undertakes to leave town incognito by changing clothes with Hans, who boasts about his new role as the master. As the judge nearly recognises them, Don Juan kills him. The two fugitives reach the cemetery, where Don Juan asks Hans to invite Don Pietro’s statue. The ghost agrees and comes over. Don Juan refuses to repent. Hans, to whom the ghost assured there was nothing to fear, follow them to the cemetery out of curiosity, and he sees his master walk into hell.

Austria

Innsbruck

Assassination

Murder

Deaf

Creditor

Debt

Seduction

Abduction

Hell

Fart

Judge

Judgment

Laziness

German

Innsbrucker Don Juan

Don Juan

Hanswurst

Don Pietro

Anna

Domestic servant

Debtor

Clerk

Bourgeois

Serf

Soldier

Ghost

Devil

Misunderstanding

Role reversal

Word for another

Comical regional accent

Murder on stage

Political allegory

Play in verse

Running away

One character replaced by another

The daughter of the emperor Otto bemoans her life as a nun in a convent. In contrast with her, the king of Bohemia, Eginhard, would like to live a secluded life in the forest but the private tutor Dietwaldus manages to arouse his desire for Otto’s beautiful daughter; he also offers to help her escape. A series of metamorphoses blurs the characters’ identities; the nun and Dietwaldus go back between their original form and that of diabolical beings. In the convent, the nun yields to the request of Dietwaldus, who has transformed into a nun himself: she agrees to flee. In his room, the emperor Otto curses his daughter. A magical mirror shows her wedding at the court of Bohemia. The emperor’s death threats reach Eginhard; he regrets having followed Dietwaldus’s advice. The advisor stabs himself with his sword; a devil appears and carries his corpse. The king Eginhard and his wife now live hidden in the Bohemian Forest. The emperor has sent his army to look for them, destroying every neighbouring village. All his men are dead, save for a squire with whom he travels through the woods; they narrowly escape the wolves. They reach the castle in which Eginhard’s court has taken refuge, and go to sleep in a room quickly prepared for them before they arrived. Everyone spies on them through a magical mirror which has been transformed into a window. The king Eginhard and his wife hear the emperor expressing regret. They then walk into the room and ask to be whipped to be forgiven. Moved, the emperor calls for the peace and unity of the kingdom. The heads of the people gathered transform into the heads of animals as well as of poets and philosophers known for their antagonisms and bad blood…

Kerner Justinus

Germany

Middle Ages

Forest

Magic object

Forgiveness

Deal with the Devil

Fantasy

Pathetic

Flyleaf of the original edition of Reiseschatten

Dwarf

Emperor

Preceptor

Table

Bohemian woman

Fairy

Horseman

Teacher

Mouse

Poodle

Metamorphosis

Accumulation of events

Monologue

Mise-en-abyme

Dinner scene

Hidden character

Spying scene

Night scene

Barker

Characters merging with one another

König Eginhard

King Eginhard

Pulcinella is desperate because he owes thirty crowns to his landlord for rent. Rugantino offers to lend them to him, since he has this exact sum in his house. He goes fetch the money and, when he comes back, says that his wife has spent half of it, but that he can still lend him the remaining fifteen crowns. Pulcinella agrees. Rugantino goes back home, then comes back and says that his wife has just spent another thirteen crowns and that he only has two left. Pulcinella accepts them still. Rugantino goes fetch them and, when he comes back, says that he owes three crowns to the collier: he then asks Pulcinella if he can lend him the missing crown.

Glove-puppet

Santangelo Gaetano (aka Ghetanaccio)

Italy

Rome

Printed excerpts

Rent

Money

Romanesco

Rugantino

Pulcinella

[Rugantino e i trenta scudi]

Rugantino and the thirty crowns

The Docteur (Doctor) advises Coquerel to protect his sick wife from any noise. Coquerel tells his wife that he will order his servant Cadet to ensure that no one sings or screams on the square. A Militaire (Military man) coming back from Toulon on foot and getting close to his house stops in an inn. Guignol has just been thrown out of the house where he was a servant and he sings to feel better. The Militaire congratulates him on his voice and gives him five francs so that he continues to sing in front of the inn. Cadet asks Guignol to stop singing at once, and gives him ten francs to keep quiet. The Militaire comes back and requires that Guignol sings, Cadet hits Guignol to make him keep quiet, the Militaire does the same thing and Guignol beats them both. The Militaire states that Guignol fought well, and invites him to follow him home so that he can sing as he pleases.

Vuillerme-Dunand Victor-Napoléon

Lyon

Villefranche-sur-Saône

Handwritten outline

Noise

Illness

Contradiction

Tu chanteras, tu ne chanteras. Funds Léopold Dor, MAM-Musées Gadagne

Doctor

Cadet

Valet

Dilemma

Blow-with-a-stick

Tu chanteras, tu ne chanteras

You will sing, you won't sing

Polichinelle has married the rich mother Gigogne, but he beats her children or gives them away in payment of his own debts. Grigogne complains to his cousin Niflanguille and gives him his bag of money. Polichinelle takes it to buy a horse. But the Maquignon sells him a dangerous horse and steals the money bag. Niflanguille accuses Polichinelle of the theft; mother Gigogne wants to beat her husband, but it is Niflanguille who gets the blows. Gigogne promises her husband more money if he behaves like a father to his children. But as soon as a child refuses to eat, Polichinelle kills him and throws him out of the window. Gigogne wants to punish Polichinelle, so he kills her, Niflanguille and a magician. The surviving children attack Polichinelle who chases them away. The Devil arrives and takes Polichinelle away.

All audiences

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Marrying for money

Child

Theft

Horse

Bad father

Bad husband

Large family

Farcical

Polichinelle

Mother Gigogne

Niflanguille

Marchand de chevaux

Pork butcher

Arlecchino

Magician

Baby doll

Animal

Lazzi

Final intervention of the devil

Character thrown out of the scene

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

Polichinelle et la Mère Gigogne

Polichinelle and Mother Grignon

The rich Niflanguille goes to buy a bag of coal. He comes across the hungry Pierrot, who asks for his help in vain. The coalman cheats Niflanguille out of the weight of the bag. Pierrot hides in the bag and beats up the coalman, Niflanguille and the servant. Back home, Niflanguille looks for a sword to pierce the recalcitrant bag, but Pierrot gets it out in time and forces the servant to take his place. While Niflanguille pierces the bag and his servant with it, Pierrot runs away with a bag of money. A Gendarme wants to hang Niflanguille for murder, Pierrot for theft and the coalman for swindling. Pierrot kills the Gendarme and puts him in the sack, which he throws away, while Niflanguille flees through the window. Pierrot kills the coalman to avoid sharing the money, then orders wine which he pays for by beating the innkeeper with a stick. The Commissaire arrives with Niflanguille; he hangs Pierrot, but confiscates the money to punish the bad rich man.

Charcoal

Hunger

Poverty

Swindling

Trade

Deception

Contempt

Bad rich

Didactic

Pierrot

Coal merchant

Police Superintendant

Hanging scene

Le Sac de charbon

The Bag of Coal

Pierrot is harassing his rich neighbour Mrs Trifouillon to get her to marry him. He locks her out of her house, then hides in her wardrobe. He beats her, breaks her dishes, throws her furniture in the street and deprives her of food and rest to make her give in. They fight, then she goes out to find a gendarme. When the gendarme arrives, Pierrot mistakes him for Mrs Trifouillon and pretends to marry him. Then Pierrot beats the Gendarme and throws him out. He finds Mrs Trifouillon's piggy bank, but she manages to take it back. Under threat, she agrees to marry Pierrot, who beats her to the rhythm of a wedding song that she is forced to hum while dancing.