The Roman Adventure - Part One - Edward Gordon Craig

Printed

5 pages

Author(s)

The Roman Adventure - Part One

The Magic Table

Edward Gordon Craig | 1916 | Marina di Pisa, Italy
Characters
King Cuts & Scars, Queen, Prinzess Razzlemond, Cockatrice, Columbus, Blind-boy, The Magic Table, Brickle-Brit, Howard, Henri, The Postman, A Young Woman, Two Italian Peasants, A Chambermaid, The Herald, Trumpeteers, Guests at the Royal George, Courtiers, Guards, The Prompter
Number of acts
5
Note

The Drama for Fools is a large-scale dramatic cycle containing multiple puppet plays. This cycle kept Craig exceedingly busy between 1916 and 1918. It was supposed to hold 365 short plays and be performed like a traveling show: each night, from 31 April to 31 March, a new play would be shown in a new location. Craig, who wrote his plays under the pen name Tom Fool, stopped writing before the cycle was finished and gave up on performing the play himself.

Nonetheless, he stored his drafts in three cardboard boxes, as a collection of typewritten notebooks containing many illustrations and whose covers display words written in colourful calligraphy. He cared immensely for these notebooks, as he improved, corrected, and supplemented them until the 1950s. This collection is today held at the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mézières.

Following The Painter and the Three Magics, The Roman Adventure shows the three protagonists of the Drama for Fools – Blind Boy, Cockatrice, and Columbus the Parrot – using the magic objects previously given by Old Man Adam. These objects are directly taken from the folktale Tischchen deck dich, Goldesel und Knüppel aus dem Sack (The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass and the Cudgel in the Sack), mostly known thanks to the Brothers Grimm’s version. This first part, which ends with Columbus being sent to prison, is followed by the interlude Cockatrice – On the Road to Rome.

Plot summary

The protagonist, who has been robbed, is accused of robbery

Blind Boy, Cockatrice, and Columbus the Parrot are headed to Rome. The Magic Donkey refuses to walk because it is afraid of Cockatrice’s face, and until he wears a mask. At a crossroads where three different roads lead to Rome, they each decide to follow a different path and agree to meet at the Royal George, an inn. Columbus, disguised as a rich traveller, gets to the inn first. He uses the Magic Table to gift a delightful meal to all customers. After this meal, Columbus goes to sleep, and Oward, the innkeeper, switches the Magic Table with an ordinary one. In the morning, Columbus receives a telegram from the King of Rome, who is also the King of Europe, inviting him to his palace to meet his daughter, Princess Razzlemond, and to marry her. At court, Columbus tries to make another feast appear but fails. The innkeeper complains about his table being stolen, and Columbus is sent to prison.

Related works
Tischchen deck dich, Goldesel und Knüppel aus dem Sack
The Drama for Fools, Edward Gordon Craig1914-1918
Composition date
Juin 1916

Publications and translations

Publication

Edward Gordon Craig, The Drama for Fools / Le Théâtre des fous. Montpellier: L'Entretemps, 2012.

Translations
  • Edward Gordon Craig, The Drama for Fools / Le Théâtre des fous. Montpellier: L'Entretemps, 2012.

    (French)

Conservation place

Institut International de la Marionnette - Charleville-Mézières, France
Language
English
Literary tones
Comical, Satirical, Fantasy
Animations techniques
String marionette
Audience
Not specified
Licence
Institut International de la Marionnette & Edward Gordon Craig Estate

Key-words

Theatrical techniques

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Written by

Didier Plassard