Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary come on, looking for a place to rest. Marie is about to give birth to the Infant Jesus, but all the doors are locked. They exit the stage. The next scenery shows the Nativity scene with the Holy Family. A choir accompanied by guitar music announces the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the Shepherds, who have come to bring him gifts. They exit the stage when the Magi arrive. The latter leave the gifts and greet the child. The Choirmaster of the Angels initiates the Dance of the Angels and the play ends with a last song of praise, sung in unison.

Single rod marionettes

Not specified

Portugal

Borba

Évora

Printed

Crib

Nativity

Peasant condition

Religious

Lyrical

Satirical

Comical

Bonecos de Santo Aleixo: Joseph, Mary and the Infant Jesus

Portuguese

Joseph

Virgin Mary

Angel

Shepherd

Wise Men (Biblical Magi)

Melopoeia

Chorus

Board

Comical foreign accent

Comical regional accent

Kicking on the ground (sound effect)

Sung scenes

Auto do Nascimento do Menino

Auto of the Nativity

The ambitious Doctor Faust begins learning black magic and makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles: he promises him his soul on condition that the latter agrees to serve him. Faust goes to Parma with Mephistopheles and his houseboy Hans Wurst. The houseboy was asked to keep the identity of his master secret, but he gives it away to the duke of Parma as soon as he arrives there. Faust makes several spectacular natural phenomena appear before the duke (Mount Etna erupting, a sea tempest) but the duke’s courtiers hate him for showing the duke their true nature. Faust is forced to flee. Although Hans Wurst is dismissed, he finds refuge with Wagner, Faust’s servant. Mephistopheles eventually secures Faust’s soul by making Helen of Troy fall in love with him. He also shows him that his generosity will not save him, because its benefits also had harmful effects on his protégés. Faust understands that he is damned, takes leave of Hans Wurst and Wagner, and hands himself over to Hell when midnight strikes.

Germany

Augsburg

Scholar

Wittenberg

Necromancy

Sorcery

Vice

Cheekiness

Nature

Navy

Brokers

Scatology

Crucifix

Hell

Future punishment

Vanity

Tragic

Burlesque

First page of the play in Johann Scheible's edition, Das Kloster, 1847

German

Ein Trauerspiel in 3 Theilen und 9 Aufzügen. (Vom Augsburger Puppentheater.)

Faust

Genie

Guardian angel

Satan

Christoph Wagner

Hanswurst

Mephistopheles

Devil

Duke of Parma

Helen of Troy

Monologue

Dilemma

Instrumental tune

Improvised scene

Lazzi

Word for another

Word reiteration

Apparition

Pact with the devil

Bawdy equivocation

Flying machine

Diorama

Versified passages

Johann Faust

Surprised by a downpour, Prince Alfred and his companion von Edelfels take refuge in Casperl’s household while Grethl waits for her husband to return from the inn. Casperl arrives in a very drunken state and immediately falls asleep. The prince, who had retired with von Edelfels to a nearby hovel, has an idea for a joke. He has the sleeping Casperl taken to a luxurious room, where he is treated with full honours. Soon Casperl does not know whether he is Casperl or Prince Schnuri... Pretending to be his doctor, Prince Alfred gives him a sleeping pill, and Casperl wakes up a few hours later in his old room. Von Edelfels, disguised as a magician, assures him that he is indeed Prince Schnuri, but that as a punishment for being a drunkard he has been turnt into a ‘dumb man’. Casperl finds Grethl and promises to make amends, all while announcing that he will drink many more litres of beer.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Excessive drinking

Household

Rain

Joke

Aristocracy

Luxury

Sausage

Metempsychosis

Black

Doctor

Magic

Otto von Bismarck

Tavern

Moralische Komödie in drei Aufzügen

Prince

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Moorish

Valet

Off-stage voice

Spying scene

Parody of formal language

Disguise

Cross-dressing

Brawl

Pyrotechnics

Current affairs

Incognito

Casperl als Prinz

Casperl prince

Kasperl leaves his wife Grete and resigns from his job at Stoffelbauer’s farm to explore the world. On the road, he meets the genius of the mountains, Cuivre Curpus. The latter is dressed as an old man and Kasperl gives him three of his copper coins. Cuprus thanks him and gifts him a magic violin in turn. Kasperl uses it to make the Jew Mauschl dance until he faints, after discovering that he was embezzling money. Two robbers – Fangauf and Schnapper – take advantage of the opportunity to steal Mauschl’s purse. Kasperl is then introduced to Duke Richard’s court as the violinist Spagatini, and he seduces the Duke’s daughter, Princess Amalie, as well as her lady-in-waiting. One day he is caught serenading them by night, but he makes the guards, the whole court, the princess and the lady-in-waiting dance. However, he is brought to justice and accused by Mauschl of having stolen the purse. As a result, he is sentenced to death. At the gallows, he asks to play one last tune on his violin, in the hope of making everyone dance and escaping. But Cuprus appears with Grete. He takes away the magic of the violin but promises to save Kasperl’s life, on condition that he goes back to his wife.

Beer

Laziness

Money

Mines

Copper

Music

Concert

People and history

Love

Impossible love

Romanticism

Seduction

Serenade

Justice

Musician

Royal Court

Scaffold

Gallows

Tralala

Fantasy

Parodistic

Title page illustrated by the author in the original edition of the play

Duke

Lady in waiting

Marshal

Judge

Clerk

Waiter

Guard

Domestic scene

Metamorphosis

Dance

Caricature

Song

Macaronism

Parodic trial

Deus ex machina

Metatheatre

Die Zaubergeige

The enchanted violin

Unable to sleep, Casperl complains about his lot in life and even says that he is ready to appeal to the spirits, following the example of Faust, when a headless ghost appears in front of him. The ghost asks him to save him from hell by performing the necessary rites at midnight at the gallows. In exchange, Casperl will get hold of the treasure that the ghost buried at this location when he was still a bandit. The next day, Casperl, who has forgotten the ritual words, asks the witch Moosmayerin to help him: she gives him Holofernes’ magical belt. In the next scene, Casperl has become rich, but he considers that the money shouldn’t be used to pay his debts and he sends his creditors away with injurious words. When a police officer comes to arrest him, he manages to lock the police officer inside his house and goes to the tavern. When he returns to his place, he discovers that the police officer has hung himself by accident with the rope with which he tried to slip away. Casperl is thrown in prison, but he is freed by the ghost, who tells him that the police officer has not died and that he has resumed his work.

Night

Melancholy

Spirits

Robber

Coffee

Market

Wealth

Debt

Perlicke

Schicksalsdrama in vier Aufzügen

Tailor

Police officer

Shoemaker

Chimney sweeper

Ghost

Thunderbolt

Animated natural element

Hanging scene

Transforming scenery

Casperl wird reich

Casperl gets rich

While fishing in a lake despite the prohibition, Casperl catches a crawfish, which tells him its story: it is actually called Zimbimbimperl and was transformed into a crawfish by her father, the magician Crocodilus, after a violent argument with her mother, the Egyptian fairy Persea. Persea travels the world to find her daughter, when she meets Casperl who informs her of Zimbimbimperl's fate. The gods of Egypt return her daughter to her, but demand that she sacrifices Casperl to them in return. In the meantime, Crocodilus has been captured and sold in a menagerie. But he manages to escape and takes refuge in the lake, surprising the reunion of mother and daughter. He wants to devour them, but Casperl intervenes and knocks him out. Crocodilus is calmed by the blow to the head. He has barely reconciled with his family when the owner of the Löwenmajer menagerie comes to claim him for his circus. Casperl kills him and declares the sacrifice to the gods complete. The play ends with a grand finale and an apotheosis of 'Casperl the Wise'.

Rail transport

Inflation

Fishing

Waste

Egypt

Lost child

Menagerie

Forgiveness

Freemasonry

Oriental wisdom

Farcical

Oder der Verzauberte Krebs

Fairy

Magician

Miller

Tamer

Fish

Talking animal

Address to the public

Crocodilus und Persea

Crocodilus and Persea

The knight Huldbrand gets lost on a stormy night by a lake and finds refuge with fishermen. He falls in love with the foundling Undine. The girl is in fact a mermaid, cursed by her people to dissolve into a wave if she is rejected by men, and to join them underwater if her true identity becomes known. Huldbrand marries Undine, but offends Berthalda, the adopted daughter of Prince Heinrich. When Heinrich visits Huldbrand, the fishermen recognise Berthalda for the child they had lost, but Berthalda rejects them with contempt. Heinrich banishes her from his presence. In despair, advised by the water genie Kühleborn, Berthalda publicly reveals Undine's identity and Heinrich curses her and Huldbrand. Huldbrand refuses, however, to abandon his wife and she takes him with her to live among her people under the waters, in a crystal palace.