Martin, a woodcutter, frees a fairy from an oak tree she has been trapped in for 500 years. The fairy gives him a ring that allows him to fulfil three wishes. Martin confides the secret to his wife Margreth, who tells Casperl, their neighbour. While Martin goes to ask the mayor and the priest for advice, Margreth, in conversation with Casperl, takes it upon herself to wish for a plate of sausages, even though she has the ring on her finger: her wish is immediately fulfilled. Seeing this, Martin retrieves the ring and, in his anger, vows that his wife will have sausages hanging from her nose. The wish comes true and the two men are no longer able to amputate Margreth's sausage appendages: all they can do is wish them away, and the gift of the three wishes is wasted.

String marionette

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Poverty

Spell

Dwarf

Ring

Secret

Beer

Hypocrisy

Sausage

Lust

Fantasy

Burlesque

Humorous

Grotesque

German

Fairy

Bûcheron

Kasperl

Song

Off-stage voice

Metatheatre

Apparition

Metamorphosis

Die drei Wünsche

The three wishes

Tired of always being surrounded by unwelcome suitors, Pimpernelle organises a fake game of blind man’s buff with Lydia. Blindfolded, Pimpernelle will have to guess who is the man kissing her: the first one to be recognised will be the lucky man. Worried about the unpredictable outcome of the game, Estragon, Pimpernelle’s lover, is immediately reassured: at Lydia’s signal, Pimpernelle will know when it is Estragon's turn to kiss her. It is arranged that the game will start the same evening in a garden. As planned, Estragon is recognised and their love is revealed. At nightfall, the statues of a nymph and of a faun come to life, express their mutual desire, and then lament the rising of the sun. At dawn, the nuptial ceremony begins and the procession sets forth.

Shadow theatre

Not specified

Bernus Alexander von

Fool’s game

Love

Gallantries

Jealousy

Garden

Lyrical

Comical

Rolf Erik von Hörschelmann, silhouettes and sets for the second scene of Estragon und Pimpernelle.