Faust invokes Satan, who appears as Mephistopheles. Faust devotes himself to the devil in exchange for the accomplishment of his every wish. He also demands that demons be at the service of his servant, Hänneschen, who will henceforth have the spirits of Parlicko and Parlacko at his disposal. In an inn, Faust gets angry at a prying student and makes a fire appear in his glass of wine. After that, he asks Mephistopheles to take him and Hänneschen first to Mount Olympus and then to a beautiful garden. Only one unfulfilled desire remains for Faust: finding a wife. Hänneschen seizes this opportunity to ask Parlicko and Parlacko to bring him his beloved Bärbel so he can marry her. Mephistopheles brings Faust the beautiful Helena, but when he tries to kiss her, she changes into an evil creature. The room turns into an infernal cave, and Faust is doomed amidst the flames.

Single rod marionettes

Not specified

Winters Johann Christoph

Germany

Cologne

Printed

Sorcery

Devil

Perlicke

Garden

Fear

Wedding

Lust

Tragic

Fantastic

Title page of the play in the periodical Das Kloster, 1847

German

Eine Geschichte der Vorzeit

Faust

Hänneschen

Domestic servant

Student

Peasant

Innkeeper

Satan

Mephistopheles

Spirit

A young alchemist, Émile, and his assistant Guignol are preparing for their final experiment—to create a man. Instead of a man, however, a Monstre (Monster) rises out of the cauldron, scaring the two men as well as Émile’s fiancée, Amélie, the daughter of Baron de Valbreuze. Émile and Guignol go to a cemetery, where they are advised by a Squelette (Skeleton) to question an old Alchimiste (Alchemist), who can teach them how to get rid of the Monstre. The Monstre is devoured by ghosts and disappears. Guignol and Émile go back to the Baron and to his daughter, and the young couple signs a marriage contract.

Glove-puppet

France

Lyon

Alchemy

Creation of a living being

Comical

Le Monstre et l'alchimiste, censorship archives (first page of the text)

French

Le Monstre et l'alchimiste

Alchemist

Guignol

Monster

Skeleton

Undead

Monologue

Word warping

Apparition of a monster

Graveyard scene

Dead talking character

Apparition of a ghost

Engulfment

Pyrotechnics

Final song

L'Alchimiste

The Alchemist

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.

All audiences

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Theft

Vegetables

Scarecrow

Phantom

Hoax

Rake

Firecracker

Blast

Melon

Trap

Farcical

Gardener

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Gardener (woman)

Hidden character

Misunderstanding

Disguise

Plot twist

Blow-with-a-stick

Explosion

Collapse of the set

Le Revenant

The Ghost

Casperl inherits money from his neighbor Frau Bas, who recently died: it's a fortune. He passes a miserable evening, tormented by the idea that people are plotting to steal his money. He even cries out about a fire. The next day, Grethel buys the latest style of toilet, hires a cook… Casperl goes out to drink at the tavern with his friend, the hunter Tomerl. However, when he returns, the notary Stahlfeder is there to announce to the cleaners that Madame Casperl's purchases and the settling of debts with the tavern have exhausted the fortune of Frau Bas—there is nearly nothing left. Casperl throws out the notary and police chief Schnuffler, who came with a fine for nighttime disturbances. He then scarfs down a plate of Knödel that his cook prepared while declaring that he doesn't need money as long as he keeps his good spirits.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Burial

Coffee

Inheritance

Grief

Beer

Wealth

Night

Paranoia

Conflagration

Fashion

Knödel

Satirical

Zwischenspiel in zwei Abteilungen

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Thomerl

Hunter

Fireman

Notary

Police officer

Cook

Shopkeeper

Night watchman

Song

Parody of formal language

Off-stage voice

Chorus

Sung scenes

Brawl

Dance

Current affairs

Die Erbschaft

L'Héritage

Guignol’s aunt has recently died. She has left him “L’Auberge des Adrets”, a dilapidated inn set remotely in the mountains. Guignol’s cousin, Martin, is staying there and waiting for Guignol to arrive, but he is uneasy: it is rumoured that the building is haunted, and a hiding place for outlaws on the run. Guignol arrives on Christmas Eve and Martin returns to the village. While Guignol inspects the place, Gnafron and Cadet walk into the inn – unbeknown to Guignol. The two friends have come to rehearse a horror scene for a film on a thieving gang that used to steal from isolated houses and kill their residents. Guignol tries to sleep on an old mattress, but he is repeatedly bothered – by a mouse, a spider, a cat, then two snakes, all living in the shack. Gnafron and Cadet rehearse the scene in which they kill the innkeeper. Guignol hears them and believes that they want to murder him. In the dark, he then pretends to be a ghost, to scare them away. Gnafron and Cadet are scared at first, but they finally recognise their friend Guignol. The three of them make a toast and wish one another a merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Snake

Robber

Fake ghost

Talking cinema

Haunted house

Christmas

ou l'Auberge des fantômes

Gnafron

Cadet

Rehearsal (play within a play)

Dramatic irony

Comedy of language

Le Noël de Guignol

Guignol’s Christmas or The Inn of the ghosts

Gretl complains about Casperl's absence, as he always comes home late and very drunk. When he finally arrives, she gets angry and wishes he would go to the Gold Star or the Silver Moon (these are the names of the taverns Casperl frequents) and never return. Her wish seems to come true when a small gold star appears to Casperl asleep and takes him against his will to the moon. At the end of an adventurous journey through different regions of the sky, Casperl is welcomed by the moon; but, exhausted, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he is in his bed. Did his cosmic journey ever take place? No matter: Casperl resumes his tour of the taverns on behalf of the drinkers' association founded the day before and which has elected him inspector of drinking establishments.

Klinger-Schmid Babette

Manuscript

Tavern

Sleep

Journey

Cloud

Spirits

Tempest

Cold

Spaceship

Man in the moon

Dream

Excessive drinking

Flight

Fantasy

Ein Casperlerlebnis in 3 Aufzügen

Star

Moon

Divinity

Inhabitants on the moon

Veau lunaire

Domestic scene

Word for another

Animated natural element

Thunderbolt

Transforming scenery

Light effects

Instrumental tune

Casperls Mondfahrt

Casperl's moon trip

Plum Plum is taking a walk. He runs into Plouf the dog but does not recognise him because the dog has caught a cold and is wearing a scarf. Plum Plum’s Maman (Mom) is looking for him because he left with a gun to go hunting. She finds him, but he shoots twice with the gun, out of fright. Plum Plum brings the gun back home and then continues hunting with a butterfly net. He catches Plouf. A princess is taking a walk in the forest. Zouzou the dragon appears, but he has the hiccups. He decides to kidnap the Princess. The Roi (king) calls for help and Plum Plum volunteers to go fight the dragon. He catches Zouzou in his net and the latter explains that he kidnapped the Princess so that someone would scare the hiccups out of him. Plum Plum threatens to cut his moustache off and to tie a saucepan to his tail. Zouzou is terrified and the hiccups go away. Plum Plum brings Zouzou to the king so that he can be taken to the zoo. The King and the Princess thank Plum Plum.

Belgium

Brussels

Dragon

Freedom

Hunting

Miraculous cure

Mother

Princess

King

Address to the public

Fight with an animal

Plum Plum et le dragon Zouzou

Plum Plum and the dragon Zouzou

Jean is worried. Night is coming and he has nowhere to sleep. Tchantchès goes looking for a place to stay the night and, to prevent Jean from getting scared of the dark, he leaves him a bottle of peket (juniper beandy). As soon as Tchantchès has left, Jean empties the bottle and falls asleep. He is awoken by the arrival of the Capitaine (Captain) who tells him that he is looking for a brave knight in order to save Princesse Isabella. Drunk, Jean accepts the challenge. The Capitaine tells him that he needs to perform three tasks. The first test is to prevail over the Chevalier Noir (Black Knight), the second one is to answer two questions asked by Lucifer, and the last one is to fight Death. Jean passes all the tests and frees the princess, who falls in love with her saviour. The King gives Jean a new name, Jean-Sans-Peur (Jean-The-Fearless), offers Jean his daugther’s hand in marriage, and invites him to the castle. Tchantchès comes back to tell Jean that he has found a place to stay for the night, but his master is gone. He learns what happened from the public.

Liège

Electronic text

Knighthood

Peket

Drunkenness

Test

Knight

Death

Captain

Tchantchès

Battlefield scene

Apparition of the Devil

Apparition of Death

Death on stage

Jean le Peureux

Jean The Fearful

Anselme Sablefin, "a man of a certain age", fights against time. He does everything he can to silence the hands of his watch. But they only do as they please, despite his threats and physical attacks. On his birthday, Anselme invites his friend Pascal Beaurivage over and takes out the cake from last year’s birthday, which “had entirely faded and looked all stale and inedible”. Faced with Beaurivage’s sadness, he brings out a second cake, a fresher and mouth-watering one – the birthday cake’s birthday cake. Everytime Anselme cuts a slice, shapes suddenly come out, reminding him of various periods of his life.When Sonia, Beaurivage’s daughter, asks him to cut the last slice of the cake, a huge, red heart and tears suddenly appear. He dies, but comes back to life right after, and they all eat the cake together.

Birthday

Nostalgia

A Piece of Cake

Un morceau de gâteau