Aurélia and Eularia’s guardian, Scaramouche, has imprisoned them because he would like to get hold of their belongings and marry Eularia. Cinthio and Octave, with the help of Arlequin and Trivellin, set up a series of ploys to see the two girls. One of those ploys consists in a curiosité show. They pressure Scaramouche into forsaking his ambitions. The third act is set at the Foire Saint-Germain. There, Arlequin disguises himself as the puppeteer Brioché and performs several magic tricks.

Curiosité

Not specified

France

Paris

Printed summary

Animated object

Tutor

Wedding

Fair

Chimney sweep

Enema

Magic tricks

Toothpulling

Infant

Comical

French

Il regalo delle dame

Scaramouche

Cintio

Arlecchino

Octave

Trivelin

Brioché

Moor

Blind

Marquis

Tooth Puller

Mask (masked type)

Judge

Chimney sweeper

Metamorphosis

Theatre within the theatre

Magic act

Disguise

Imbroglio

Misunderstanding

Lazzi

Word for another

Le Régal des dames

The ladies' Treat

Rugantino comes back from a long journey and finds his home filled with Pulcinelletti (small Pulcinellas). He asks his wife where these come from, but she replies that they are their own children. Rugantino goes and sees a judge, who asks him to imagine that he owns a field and that a neighbour, crossing this field, lets wheat seeds fall on it: to whom does the wheat belong, he asks Rugantino? To me, since the field belongs to me, Rugantino answers. The judge then makes him observe that this also stands for his wife’s children. Rugantino goes back home, accepts to recognise the children, and the curtain falls as the Pulcinelletti all shout and call him “Daddy”.

Glove-puppet

Santangelo Gaetano (aka Ghetanaccio)

Italy

Rome

Printed excerpts

Unfaithfulness

Birth

Child

Farcical

Italian

Rugantino

Rosetta

Baby

Pulcinellino

[Rugantino e i Pulcinelletti]

Rugantino and the small Pulcinellas

Once again, Fagiolino borrows money from Polonia, Sandrone’s wife, and promises to pay her back as soon as he manages to marry Colombina, the niece of the wealthy Pantalone, and to collect her dowry. Meanwhile, Sandrone makes a deal to buy lands so that he won’t have to work for a landlord any longer. When he discovers that Polonia has taken money from his savings in order to lend it to Fagiolino, he beats her and swears to himself that he will do the same to Fagiolino. In the meantime, Bergnocla, a friend of Fagiolino, warns him that Arlecchino and Brighella are plotting against Pantalone: they have abducted Colombina in order to demand a ransom. While she is kept hidden in Brighella’s inn, they make Pantalone believe that it is the fearsome bandit Sebastian who has abducted her. Moreover, Arlecchino secretly wants to marry Colombina to obtain her dowry. Fagiolino, who is in love with Colombina, manages to foil Arlecchino’s plan: he intercepts Pantalone, who was headed to the bandit’s place with the money for the ransom, pretends to be the bandit himself and takes the money, so that it never falls into Arlecchino and Brighella’s hands. Those two are quarrelling because they each think that the other has betrayed them, and nobody suspects Fagiolino. They also think that the true bandit, Sebastian, is now angry with them because they have used his name for their own purposes. They beg Fagiolino to speak to the bandit and to talk some sense into him. Fagiolino accepts, in exchange for payment, and is delighted about the success of his plan. He pretends to have convinced the bandit to free Colombina and to leave Arlecchino and Brighella in peace. He finally goes to meet Pantalone so that he can be given credit for having convinced the bandit to free Colombina. Pantalone believes him and agrees to give him Colombina’s hand in marriage. Fagiolino goes back to Sandrone’s and pays him back the money he owed him.

Reggio Emilia

Printed

Money

Labour

Kidnapping

Ransom

Dowry

Emilian

Fagiolino

Bargnocla

Sandrone

Polonia

Brighella

Pantaloon

Comical regional accent

Domestic scene

Trap

Blow-with-a-stick

Unveiling

Final wedding

Final song

Fagiolino in cerca di lavoro

Fagiolino is looking for a job

A runaway slave meets a dragon which threatens to breathe fire on him; he asks the dragon whether it has the sultan’s permission to do so, predicting that the dragon will eat his former master before the guard kills it. But things do not turn out exactly as expected. Right before the audience, the dragon meets a knight who wants the sultan to recognise his superiority to become a knight too. The sultan refuses to talk, appointing the dragon to speak in his stead and authorising him to breathe fire on the knight. The slave returns in order to sit on the throne that he thinks empty – and it is indeed soon to be the case, because the sultan suddenly decides to follow in the deceased knight’s footsteps and take his place. Meanwhile, the fat Katja, who was dancing and singing for the sultan, has moved in with the dragon, and everyone is invited for coffee.

String marionette

Young audiences

Fühmann Franz

Germany

Märkisch Buchholz

Tyranny

Slave

Emancipation

Animals, Mythical

Reign

Despotism

Turkey

Forecast

Discussions

Tolerance

Vocation

Coffee

Slogan

Politics

Civism

Love

Couple

Society

Black

Humorous

Fantasy

Satirical

German

Wie wird man Oberdiskutierer

Magician

Fat lady

Dragon

Sultan

Knight

Spectacular turn of events

Intervention of the audience

Talking animal

Song

Object coming to life

Political allegory

Prologue

Address to the public

Personification

Optional scene

Dialogue of the deaf

Improvised scene

Der glückliche Ritter von Trinitat

The happy Knight of Trinitat

The protagonist, Franz, is a young Viennese scientist who, during a hypnosis session conducted by Mesmer, learns that his cousin Angèlica, with whom he is in love, is in great danger. He decides to go to her rescue and, after many adventures, arrives in Budapest to find that she has just died. Convinced that she has been hypnotised by the alchemist Adam Le Fay, he keeps her body in ice, brings her back to his laboratory and tries various experiments to resurrect her. He fails and is accused of her murder by Napoleonic troops who have just entered Vienna. Sentenced to death, he is saved at the last moment by Le Fay who explains to him that if one of them dies, the other also perishes. They duel, Franz throws himself on Le Fay's sword, and both die at the same time. It is clear that they are two sides of the same personality, symbolising the conflict between rationalism and superstition.

Le Régal des dames

[Rugantino e i Pulcinelletti]

Fagiolino in cerca di lavoro

Der glückliche Ritter von Trinitat

Wie wird man Oberdiskutierer

La mirada de l'alquimista

Obra per a titelles i actors