Faust leads a destitute life as a scholar, until he lay hands on a book of black magic. He then sells his soul to the devil Mefistofeles, in exchange for services. Demons also appear to Kasper, whom Faust’s famulus – Wagner – has recently hired. But Kasper adamantly refuses to sell himself to the devil. Mefistofeles takes Faust and Kasper to Parma to lead a loose life. After living in luxury for twelve years, Faust is abandoned by Wagner, who disapproves of his way of life. Faust repents, but eventually gives in to carnal temptation when Mefistofeles presents him the fair Helen, whom he knew in Ancient Greece. Everyone rejects Faust. Kasper, now a night watchman, finds him out in the street within curfew hours and wants to throw him behind bars. But Faust’s final hour has come, and he is taken away by demons.

String marionette

Not specified

Geisselbrecht Johann Georg

Germany

Printed

University

Scholar

Wittenberg

Philosopher's stone

Foreign languages

Laziness

Sorcery

Necromancy

Perlicke

Middle Ages

Crow

Pluto

Coffee

Penitence

Eroticism

Future punishment

Tragic

Burlesque

German

Comödie vom D. Faust ; Schauspiel von dem Doctor Faust

Oder : Der große Negromantist

Faust

Christoph Wagner

Kasperl

Mephistopheles

Devil

Auerhahn

Vizibuzli

Helen of Troy

Night watchman

Monologue

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Tragic irony

Song

Macaronism

Misunderstanding

Lazzi

Word for another

Thunderbolt

Apparition of the Devil

Word reiteration

Pact with the devil

Dream

Versified passages

Bawdy equivocation

Doctor Faust

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...

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Knighthood

Troubadour

Squire

Dragon

Wood

Forest

Gluttony

Magic

Moon

Heroism

Assassination

Animals, Mythical

Tavern

Farcical

Parodistic

Ein Ritterstück aus dem finstern Mittelalter

Hermit

Knight

Der Zauberer Murischuripixtimixtistopheles

Magician

Sung scenes

Address to the public

Metatheatre

Parody of formal language

Blow-with-a-stick

Murder on stage

Pyrotechnics

Metamorphosis

Magic act

Stichomythia

Kasperls Heldentaten

The heroic deeds of Kasperl

A dove is saved from a vulture by the knight Theobald and finds shelter in the knight’s daughter’s (Agnes) lap. At this moment, their neighbour – a widow called Rosalinde – and her daughter Emma come to ask for Theobald’s protection against Ulrich von der Wart, who wants to grab her land. As a token of friendship, Agnes gives Emma her dove. Ulrich has hired a robber to break into Theobald’s castle to put it to the fire and the sword with the help of his group. The robbers dress as pilgrims and stop at Rosalinde’s place. But Casperl, Rosalinde’s servant, uncovers their plot and tells his madam. Theobald, his family and servants would have been lost had Emma not thought of sending the dove to Agnes, with a message to warn them. The robbers find themselves powerless. Theobald besieges Ulrich’s castle, and the latter is killed during the fight.

Gangster

Widow

Justice

Rapacity

Friendship

Pilgrimage

Morality

Castle

Drink

Crusades

Seat

Dramatic

Illustration by Franz Pocci for the first edition of the play

Nach einer Erzählung von Christoph Schmid in vier Aufzügen dramatisch bearbeitet