Kasperl leaves for America on a boat, but is swallowed by a whale that spits him out on an island inhabited by cannibals. They salt him and smear him in whale fat. Attracted by the smell of fat, an eagle kidnaps Kasperl on the verge of being eaten and takes him back to Europe. Kasperl manages to escape and meets a horseman who takes him back to his family. The play ends as a prologue with an invitation to take a seat in front of the puppet theatre for the start of the main performance.

Shadow theatre

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Germany

Munich

Printed

Boat

Navigation

Navy

America

Shipwreck

Fish

Leviathan

Unknown land

Island

Sausage

Beer

Thirst

Hunger

Cannibalism

Savage

Kidnapping

Horse

Family

Fantasy

Comical

German

Kasperl

Baleine

Cannibal

Eagle

Horserider

Madame Kasperl

Child

Monologue

Play in verse

Chorus

Sung scenes

Macaronism

Unexpected turn of events

Puppet theatre within the theatre

Kasperl bei den Menschenfressern

Kasperl among the anthropophagi

Polichinelle stole a wizard's picnic and beat him up. The wizard made a giant hand appear. Chased by the hand, Polichinelle runned into an old woman's house. To get him out, the Hand trapped him with a smelly pâté. Feigning repentance, Polichinelle asked the wizard to free him from the Hand, then killed him and tried to control the Hand. But it threatened him with a pitchfork and carried him away like the Devil would do.

Glove-puppet

Bare hand

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Hand

The Devil's Hand

Wine

Theft

Sorcery

Pâté

Cunning

False repentance

Farcical

Fantastic

French

Polichinelle

Magician

Old woman

Part of human body

Devil

Song

Aside

Blow-with-a-stick

Chase

Magical formula

Hands visible

Plot twist

Address to the public

Thumbing one's nose

Slaps

Punching

Off-stage voice

Final intervention of the devil

La Grand'Main

The Big Hand

Incarcerated for his debts, Casperl is freed from prison by a small child, Capricerl, who is the guide of Fortuna, the blind goddess. While being pursued, Casperl finds refuge with Klaus, a hermit who reveals himself to be the Devil. However, Fortuna bet against Bios, the genie of life, that her gifts could make someone happy: Casperl will be her guinea pig. She repels the Devil and makes Casperl win the lottery. But the newly rich man is tyrannical and angry to the point of becoming sick. He goes so far as to miss the simple and modest life he once had, and curses his fortune. The goddess understands her defeat and brings him back to his normal self. Casperl goes to the inn.

String marionette

Despair

Destiny

Debt

Happiness

Blindness

Widower

Gas balloon

Jail

Philosophy

Grief

Breaking out

Latin Mythology

Bingo

Tavern

Burlesque

Kasperl im Schuldturm

Genie

Goddess of Fortune

Innkeeper

Old man

Hermit

Police officer

Verschiedene Erscheinungen und Verwandlungen

Apparition

Allegory

Flying machine

Apparition of the Devil

Versified passages

Pact with the devil

Word for another

Thunderbolt

Story

Metatheatre

Metamorphosis

Transforming scenery

Das Glück ist blind

Luck is blind