Printed
16 pages
Les Boudins de Gripandouille
Premiered in 1861, on the inauguration day of the puppet theatre of the Tuileries Garden (Paris), the play followed the representation of a prologue entitled Le Théâtre de Polichinelle, written in verse for the occasion by poet Fernand Desnoyers.
A starving man kills to steal food which ends up stolen from him every time
Starving, Gripandouille goes to the pork butcher to buy some black pudding. Because they’re out of it, he ruins the shop, beats the Charcutier (Pork butcher) to death and puts his corpse in his basket. Still starving, Gripandouille steals a black pudding from a Vieille Femme (Old Woman), then from an Élégant (Sophisticated Man) and finally from a Gendarme (Constable) before killing them all and hiding them in his basket. However, every stolen sausage is taken from him by a Chien (Dog) and then by the Diable (Devil). The Diable leaves, but not before bringing Gripandouille’s victims back to life: they beat their murderer to death to punish him for not resisting his desires.
First performance
The play premiered on the inauguration day of the puppet theatre of the Tuileries Garden (Paris).
Publications and translations
Duranty, Théâtre des marionnettes du jardin des Tuileries, texte et composition des dessins par M. Duranty, Paris, MM. Dubuisson et Cie, Editeurs-Libraires, 1862
Louis Edmond Duranty, Théâtre des marionnettes, Arles, Actes sud, Coll. Babel, 1995. ISBN: 978-2-7427-0652-5
Louis Duranty, Merchant of blows-with-a-stick and other plays (English and French edition), english translation by Sean Keohane, Charlemagne Press (Canada) 2007, [266 p.], ISBN-13: 978-0-921845-26-3
(English)