Fleeing his wife, Polichinelle steals a charlatan's cabriolet with Pierrot. First he wins the trust of the population with free advice, then he launches a subscription for a phantom financial company. When the shareholders demand their money, he sends them away with good words and blows, until the Public itself comes to threaten him directly. Mrs. Polichinelle offers to take care of the punishment. Terrified, Polichinelle flees into the forest. Abandoned by Pierrot, he walks to Hell. There, he tries to swindle Death and stands up to the Devil who, in desperation, goes looking for Mrs. Polichinelle. She brings her husband home firmly, with the approval of the audience.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Swindling

Hell

Marriage hell

Punishment

Forest

Public

Perseverance in Evil

Money

Capitalism

Bossy woman

Escape

Comical

Satirical

Farcical

Ironic

French

Le Charlatan

Charlatan

Polichinelle

Crook

Pierrot

Tenant

Lady

Peasant

Cassandre

Cassandra

Shopkeeper

Colombine

Valet

Death

Devil

Intervention of the audience

Apparition of the Devil

Plot twist

Blow-with-a-stick

Appearence of Death

L'Homme au cabriolet

the man with a cabriolet

On the advice of Lafleur, Titine Calicot, gave up her studies and now works as a sales assistant in a sex shop. She thinks that Lafleur is a good man but Sandrine, his wife, does not agree with that. She believes he spends too much time with other women, does not work, does not earn any money and spends all of his free time drinking. Gégène, the owner of a pub, comes looking for Lafleur for he has not paid her in 6 months. Sandrine gets worried – if Lafleur is not at Gégène’s pub, where could he have gone? Papa Tchutchu, the landlord, demands that the rent for the past six months be paid. Sandrine tries to explain that she and her husband are living off her income, because Lafleur does not work and he claims to be ill. Papa Tchutchu hesitates over calling court baillifs, for Lafleur is capable of beating them and of making a scene. Gégène returns and explains that she has heard that Lafleur was hit by a car. Given the circumstances, Papa Tchutchu, gives up on being paid back. Titine has doubts, though – Gégène might have been mistaken. Blaise has also heard about Lafleur’s accident and cannot believe that he has really passed away. Him, Sandrine, Gégène and Paupaul reminisce about Lafleur and his banter. Lafleur comes back alive and enters the grieving house. He explains that it is not he who has been crushed, but old Marie’s flower. He is very angry with Gégène, who prefers to flee to avoid his kicks. Lafleur wants to know what has been said of him when it was thought he had passed away. Death enters. She, too, has heard that Lafleur had died. She comes to get him, but Lafleur kicks her away.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

Amiens

Accident

Laziness

Rent

Fake news

Picard language

Sandrine

Sales assistant

Bar owner

Landlord

Papa Tchutchu

Blaise

Lafleur

Skeleton

Misunderstanding

Kicking

Ch' l'accidint d'Lafleur

Lafleur's accident

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

Tragic

Dramatic

Miséria (Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, 1991)

Portuguese

Old man

Blacksmith

Saint Peter

Voice

Apparition of a Saint

Narrator

Song

Peasant accent

Change of voice

Smoke

Flying character

Music

Miséria

Misère

Jean is worried. Night is coming and he has nowhere to sleep. Tchantchès goes looking for a place to stay the night and, to prevent Jean from getting scared of the dark, he leaves him a bottle of peket (juniper beandy). As soon as Tchantchès has left, Jean empties the bottle and falls asleep. He is awoken by the arrival of the Capitaine (Captain) who tells him that he is looking for a brave knight in order to save Princesse Isabella. Drunk, Jean accepts the challenge. The Capitaine tells him that he needs to perform three tasks. The first test is to prevail over the Chevalier Noir (Black Knight), the second one is to answer two questions asked by Lucifer, and the last one is to fight Death. Jean passes all the tests and frees the princess, who falls in love with her saviour. The King gives Jean a new name, Jean-Sans-Peur (Jean-The-Fearless), offers Jean his daugther’s hand in marriage, and invites him to the castle. Tchantchès comes back to tell Jean that he has found a place to stay for the night, but his master is gone. He learns what happened from the public.