Polichinelle wants to be loved while he is dressed as the shepherd Philemon, but is rejected by Issé. Doris accepts Pan's love for a while. Hylas is in turn rejected by Issé. Issé questions the oracle of the oaks of Dodona who tells her that she will fall in love with the god of light. Issé refuses because she prefers Polichinelle. Polichinelle reveals himself to her as Apollo.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

France

Paris

Manuscript with songs and dialogue summaries

Oracle

God disguised as a mortal

Greek mythology

Shepherd

Unrequited love

Seduction

Rivalry in love

Parodistic

French

Polichinelle

Philémon

Mother Gigogne

Doris

The Interpreter

Pierrot

Hylas

Priest

Peasant (female)

Apollo

Misunderstanding

Unveiling

Spectacular turn of events

Ballet

Song

Dialogue with a character in the audience

Apollon Polichinelle

Apollo as Polichinelle

The play is set in Cannes in 1871. Madame Palmer, her daughter Miss Kate (both Americans), Monsieur Balandard and his nephew Arthur, a young painter, are staying in a hotel. The young painter is in love with Miss Kate and paints her portrait. However, Miss Kate does not recognise herself in the painting and suggests, in Arthur’s face, that he find a “real” job. The young man is hurt: he draws a caricature of Miss Kate’s silhouette and complains to his uncle – Monsieur Balandard. Meanwhile, Madame Palmer organises an occult ritual with her daughter to find out the name of the daughter’s future husband. Cléophée, Madame Palmer’s occult “friend”, writes the name “Bal…”. From that moment on, Madame Palmer tries to arrange a marriage between her daughter and Monsieur Balandard. However, the uncle decides to help his nephew. To do so, he organises a fake occult ritual and hides Arthur inside a speaking bubble. In the end, the farce is revealed and faith in occultism is shattered.

Glove-puppet

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

Nohant

Printed

Casino

Hotel

Bourgeoisie

Painter

Arranged marriage

Spirits

Occultism

Trap

Comical

Satirical

Farcical

Eugène Lambert, George Sand, Maurice Sand : puppet of Arthur Dupinceau.

L'Oncle et le neveu

Balandard

Young man

Innkeeper

Constable

American

Woman of the bourgeoisie

Young woman

Aside

Situation comedy

Invocation of the spirits of the dead

Aria

Plot twist

Les Esprits frappeurs

The Spirits that strike

The Nain jaune (yellow dwarf) wants to marry Fleur de Bois, a princess, but she turns him down. To avenge himself, the Nain, with the help of Satan, puts the king, the princess and everyone in the palace to sleep, and he promises to come back in a year. Yvon, a young man described as “not very rich but lazy”, begs a Prêtre (Priest) for money. The Prêtre turns into a genie and gives him an enchanted sword so he can save the princess. He and his servant fight the Nain, the Géant Romular (Giant Romular) and Satan, and enter the castle. Once inside the castle, Yvon cuts the king’s beard with the sword to deliver him from the sleeping spell. When the king wakes up, he gives Yvon his daughter Fleur de Bois as a wife.

String marionette

Lille

Handwritten outline

Devil

Sleep

Wedding

Genie

Magic object

Sword

Beard

Enchantment

Fantasy

Domestic servant

Satan

Dwarf

Knight

Black Man

Snake

Giant

Improvised dialogue

Avista

Apparition of a genie

Apparition of the Devil

Fight

Yvon, ou la Barbe d'Acier

Yvon, or the Iron Beard

Smeraldina and Facanapa, two servants in love, argue because Facanapa is jealous when Smeraldina pays attention to her appearance. She tells him that she is doing this for him, and also to obtain tips that allow her to pay for certain things. Pantalone, Smeraldina’s employer, asks her if she intends to marry Facanapa (who is a genuinely good guy), so that his wife no longer suspects their relationship. Facanapa comes back and says that the cellar has been flooded because he opened the barrels. Pantalone kicks him, and, angry, decides that Smeraldina will marry the shopkeeper Arlecchino. Meanwhile, Arlecchino asks Tartaglia for his daughter Rosaura’s hand, but she wants to marry Florindo and so rejects his advances. A discomfited Arlecchino leaves and encounters Pantalone who offers for him to marry Smeraldina. Facanapa hides from Pantalone in a tree, and overhears the conversation. Smeraldina agrees to marry Arlecchino, and Facanapa, very angry, wants to hang himself. Smeraldina saves him; Pantalone agrees to their wedding and even provides a dowry. Once again, Arlecchino ends up without a wife.

All audiences

Italy

Love

Suicide

Il Matrimonio di Facanapa, ed. Chiopris, 1910.

Venetian

Pantaloon

Servant

Waitress

Father

Arlecchino

Shopkeeper

Kicking

Spying scene

Love rivalry

Failed suicide

Il matrimonio di Facanapa

Facanapa's wedding

Théophile Hippolyte Sébastien Lacroix visits Marianne Larue and suggests different outings that she declines without exception, with a simple “noa” (nan-an). After Théodore’s departure, Marianne keeps answering this to all outside noises, even when the curtain goes down and the theater lights go off. Marianne’s shape can still be seen through the partly transparent curtain, while it grows excessively. The play ends with a young man’s ironic and “coarse” whistle.

Craig Edward Gordon

Leghorn

Woman

Invitation

Refusal

Language

Bilinguism

Fantastic

Edward Gordon Craig, Noa.

English

Une conversation marionnettique en style "snap-shot"

Running gag

Comedy of language

Off-stage noise

Light effects

Lowering the curtain during action

Commentary

Nan-an

A cuntista (storyteller) relates that Carlo Magno has thrown a party for the birth of his first child, gathering the paladins of France and foreign knights. Princess Angelica arrives accompanied by her brother Argalia and four giants. Angelica and Carlo Magno make a deal: the first knight to defeat Argalia in a spear duel will get to marry the princess, but those that will be defeated will be made prisoners. Every paladin and every foreign knight want to fight. Malagigi, the necromancer, discovers Argalia’s deception. He has a magical spear and Angelica has a ring that will make her invisible and will help her escape. Malagigi, however, does not manage to warn the paladins, for he too has succumbed to Angelica’s beauty and has thus been made prisoner. After Astolfo (the first knight to lose the spear duel against Argalia) comes the Spanish Ferraù who does not admit defeat and ends up killing Argalia. Astolfo and Angelica manage to flee. 
At the Royal Palace, Carlo Magno is desperate because an enemy army is besieging the city of Paris and most of the paladins (including Orlando) have gone looking for Angelica. Carlo Magno entrusts the command of the army to Rinaldo. In the meantime, Angelica falls in love with Medoro, a pagan soldier, and Orlando goes mad when he finds out that they love each other. Astolfo finds a hippogriff which takes him to the moon. The cuntista relates that Astolfo finds Orlando’s lost spirit on the moon. He then interrupts his story and announces that he will continue it later.

Armed rod marionette

Single rod marionettes

Palermo

Venice

Moon

Madness

Travel in the air

Deception

Epic

Sicilian

Angelica alla corte di Re Carlo

Storyteller

Charlemagne (King)

Soldier

Angelique

Astolphe

Orlando

Renaud de Montauban

Ferragu

Paladin

Oliver

Maugis

Magician

Archbishop Turpin

King

Peasant

Maid

Hippogriff

Ganelon

Sword fight

Undressed character on stage

Scene of madness

Fighting a monster

Flying character

Address to the public

Interrupting

Dal Catai a Parigi

From Cathay to Paris. Angelica at King Charlemagne’s court

A theatre director has hired Polichinelle for the evening, but Polichinelle is late for the show. When he comes on, he is haunted by the ghost of his conscience, that chastises him for his very instinctive personality. Following the director’s questions concerning what is tormenting him, Polichinelle uses glove-puppets to play episodes from his childhood, when he was often punished for his misdemeanour. Once the flashback is over, Polichinelle wants to improvise some jokes, but the director forbids him from tackling political themes. As he does not know what kind of show to put on, Polichinelle keeps talking about his past – how his parents had him then abandoned him for lack of money, and his first heartbreaks. Polichinelle and the director argue. The latter summons Illness and Death, who want to take Polichinelle with them. While screaming that he is an immortal character, Polichinelle manages to drive them out – thus saving theatre and also making up with the director.