Christine is in love with Heini, a law student, but her father has promised to give her in marriage to the apothecary, a character so conceited and ridiculous that she cannot tolerate him. Heini resolves to leave for Leipzig in order to finish law school and he makes Christine promise that she will resist the apothecary’s advances in the meantime. The apothecary, however, learns that an uncle has bequeathed his fortune to him before he passed away, provided that he would marry his niece: he easily forgets about Christine. But his baseless allegations about Christine offend her father, and, as he is furious with the apothecary, he calls Heini back in order to organise the wedding of the young lovers.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

Keller Therese

Switzerland

Typewriting

Embroidery

Woman

Forced marriage

Wedding

Arranged marriage

Silver wedding

Student

Love

Impossible love

Bourgeoisie

Greek mythology

Silliness

Ignorance

Fatuity

Cloister

Phantom

Pharmacy

Inheritance

Vilification

Backbiting

Comical

German

Father

Apothecary

Off-stage voice

Song

Caricature

Misunderstanding

Apparition

Speechless character

Letter

Disguise

Hidden character

Monologue

Love story

Plot twist

Love rivalry

Ridiculous fight

Der Apotheker

The Apothecary

Mademoiselle (Miss) Félicité, a foreign doctoral student, pays a visit to Morched – a master puppeteer – to buy his puppets. Her request is categorically denied because, in Morched’s eyes, puppetry is ancestral work. However, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the authorities censored traditional Iranian culture and Morched is forbidden from practicing his trade. In spite of this prohibition, he decides to use his puppets one last time to tell the love story between Pahlévâne and Sarvé-Nâz Khânome, which will soon be made impossible because of the Mullahs, who support their friend Mobârak (“a mischievous servant”). Unable to destroy his puppets, Morched – just before he dies – decides to entrust them to Mademoiselle Félicité, who will be able to keep the memory of his work alive.

Actor and puppet

France

Printed

Puppeteer

Puppets

Power

Transmission

Religion

Current events

Daily life

Bans

Political context

Death

Epic

Dramatic

Frédéric de Manassein, cover art for Mémoires d'une marionnette.

French

Journal d'une marionnette

Wife

Servant

Mobârak

Young man

Monster

Horse

King

Prince

Priest

Young woman

Herald

Guard

Deux Balayeurs, Torch-Ali Bak et Chirin-ali Bak (jumeaux)

Twins

Eunuch

Vehicle

Ambassador

Quelques Dignitaires civils et militaires

Dancer

Mise-en-abyme

Dialog between a puppet and its puppeteer

Address to the public

Comedy of language

Comic speech

Multi-voice shouting

Allusion to current political events

Versified passages

Hands visible

Apparition of a monster

Death on stage

Mémoires d'une marionnette

Memoirs of a puppet