Kasperl is the knight Kuno’s squire. While hunting in the woods, he meets a hermit who offers him food and drink. As he is in a good mood, Kasperl slaps him in the face. The situation degenerates and he ends up skewering the hermit on his halberd. Kuno arrives, unaware of this. The magician Murischuripixtimixtistopheles sets out to capture them both and cook them in his wizard's kitchen. He transforms into a monster and wants to eat Kasperl: Kasperl feeds him the hermit's corpse, but this is not enough to satisfy him. Kasperl then hits him with his halberd until he collapses, dead. The knight Kuno finally arrives, but the magician suddenly reappears: the monster was only an illusion. Kuno runs away. Kasperl does not have time to follow him. The magician takes him into his service and gives him a cauldron to watch over, threatening to cook him in the cauldron if he does his job badly. But instead, Kasperl pushes him into the cauldron, which explodes: Kasperl flies to the moon and returns to Earth after visiting all the taverns there...

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Middle Ages

Knighthood

Troubadour

Squire

Dragon

Wood

Forest

Gluttony

Magic

Sorcery

Wizard

Moon

Heroism

Assassination

Fantasy animal

Tavern

Farce

Parodistic

German

Ein Ritterstück aus dem finstern Mittelalter

Hermit

Kasperl

Knight

Der Zauberer Murischuripixtimixtistopheles

Magician

Devil

Sung scenes

Address to the public

Monologue

Versified passages

Metatheatre

Word for another

Parody of formal language

Blow-with-a-stick

Murder on stage

Devil's apparition

Pyrotechnics

Metamorphosis

Magic act

Stichomythia

Macaronism

Kasperls Heldentaten

The heroic deeds of Kasperl

Polichinelle and Pierrot rob a vegetable garden every night. The gardener sets up scarecrows. At first, the thieves tremble with fear and give up their loot before they discover the trickery. Then they put on the scarecrows' clothes to scare and hit the Gardener. The Gardener runs away, but he has recognised Pierrot and Polichinelle. He returns disguised as a ghost, but Pierrot and Polichinelle are not fooled and hit him again. When the Gardener wants to prevent Polichinelle from escaping, Polichinelle plants him in a pot with Pierrot's help. The wife frees her husband. They both fill a melon with powder and a wick. Pierrot and Polichinelle, mistaking the wick for a cigar, light it. The explosion sends Polichinelle and Pierrot flying out of the garden, but causes the house to collapse on the Gardener and his wife.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Garden

Theft

Vegetables

Scarecrow

Phantom

Fear

Hoax

Rake

Pumpkin

Powder

Firecracker

Blast

Melon

Trap

French

Gardener

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Jardinière

Hidden character

Misunderstanding

Disguise

Plot twist

Explosion

Collapse of the set

Le Revenant

The Ghost

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.

Kasperls Heldentaten

Ein Ritterstück aus dem finstern Mittelalter

Le Revenant

Casperl als Prinz

Moralische Komödie in drei Aufzügen