Active from the 1st of May to the 18th of October 1986 as part of the Swiss national exposition in Geneva, the shadow theatre of Sapajou scheduled a dozen shadow plays, very similar to the Parisian shows of the Chat Noir cabaret (1885-1896). Nevertheless, the artists who partook in it (painters, musicians, poets) were anxious to bring a national touch to their repertoire and to take on a singular critical positioning, notably through their weekly magazine Le Sapajou. Struck with nostalgia for the “children’s games” of the primitive monkeys, their discourse mocks the ambient Darwinism: “the capuchin monkeys-of-the-end-of-the-century […] have better things to do; the necessities of existence and the “struggle for life” impose social duties to them, and force them to choose a career”. During the theatre’s daily performances, the pianist Gustave Ferrari would play the accompaniment and H. Bertilliot would do the barking. The composer and teacher Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, often present during the gala receptions, sometimes improvised a tune on the piano.

The play was on the theatre’s program as soon as it opened,and it was still played intermittently until the theatre closed down. Some silhouettes, drawn by Henri van Muyden, are reproduced in the theatre’s review which also indicates -- as it also does for the other plays on the program -- the titles of the tableaux that make it up. Charmed, reviewer Paul Seippel, in the Gazette de Genève, praises the realism of the landscapes and the balance of genres of this “Alpine idyll”.

In the Valais canton, the sun rises over a pathway and a small wooden house. The mountains appear in the background. It is spring; the goatherd’s horn can be heard in the valley and the goats come running. The village of Savièze comes to life: the girls riding on mules’ backs go to work in the vineyard, two women are chatting, the pigs try to run away from the farmers,… A family of English tourists goes on a walk guided by Lord Quick, who is leading his daughters as a shepherd guides his flock… A storm breaks out in the valley, forcing the tourists, the shepherds and the animals to seek shelter. After the storm, the hikers finish climbing the high mountain and a chamois hunt resumes. Bells and prayers can be heard as a procession slowly walks towards the old chapel of Savièze: the women, the penitents, the priests, the altar children and the elderly are all part of it. The village finally celebrates Christmas before falling asleep under the snow.