In the Underworld, Plutone (Pluto) and Proserpina dispatch their armies of Erinyes on Earth, ordering them to punish Odoardo, the tyran from Thebes. Filone and Ormondo, the King's counsels, are waiting for the King to return and celebrate his wedding with the young Erminda. Ormondo confesses his love to Pasquella, Girello's wife, who turns him down: Girello says that he will beat him and, taking revenge, Ormondo sends him to prison. At Court, Doralba, the King's sister, is desperately in love with the slave Mustafa. Filone and Ormondo demand that Girello be punished, and he is sentenced to exile. Mustafa gives him a little money, before joining Doralba and singing his love to her: as he is overeager, Doralba denounces him to Odoardo. Girello, exiled in the woods, meets a magician who introduces himself as the Patriarch of the abyss. To prove his title, he shows him several diabolical creatures. Scared, Girello tries to send him off, but the magician offers to help him. The stage transforms into the entrance of the Underworld: demons are coming out of it to dress Girello with kingly clothes. If he keeps these clothes on and puts a magic root next to the King, Girello will look like Odoardo, and Odoardo will look like Girello. Girello arrives at Court in his new clothes and announces a series of harebrained laws, before calling his counsels “Governator delle galline” (governor of hens) and “Segretario maggior della brachetta” (Secretary General of the (Trousers) Fly). He arrives without his sword, is recognised as Girello, comes back with his sword and is seen as the King, even though his servants think that he has changed because he is no longer greedy. The old Pasquella prays to Girello, whom she believes to be the King, asking him to allow her to marry again so her youth is not lost in waiting for her husband. As for Mustafa, who has been accused of trying to rape the King's sister, he asks for his forgiveness. Girello throws Ormondo and Filone behind bars, chooses Mustafa as his favourite, and tells Pasquella to wait and see what is coming for her. The real Odoardo, surprised to find his counsel in prison, asks Tartaglia to release them. From this arises a first misunderstanding, as Tartaglia cannot make sense of the King's inconsistent orders. Conversely, Mustafa thanks Odoardo for his good deed; the King does not understand why, and he puts him in prison, with Doralba, who confessed that she was in love with the slave. Girello asks for the lovers to be released, then he marries them and sends Filone and Ormondo to the galleys. When Tartaglia tells him about his contradictory behaviour, Girello demands that he be beaten with a stick the next time he loses his memory. Pasquello, begging for a husband, is willing to react positively to the advances of the so-called King, who swears that she will be beaten; Erminda is getting ready to spend the night with Girello, whom she believes to be her husband. Girello manages to slip the root in Odoardo's belongings. The King, standing in front of his doppelganger, fails to understand the situation, and he despairs when Tartaglia asks him to bow before Girello. In prison, where he was sent, Odoardo asks for his wife to intervene in his favour: it is Pasquella, and not Erminda, who answers him. At this point, the magician decides to remove the veil from the mortals' eyes—he turns Tartaglia into a statue, and tells Girello that he is taking his royal status away, for he has misused it. Girello tries to have him beaten, but the magician reveals the truth to everyone. Neither Pasquella nor Erminda knows where her real husband is anymore; as for Mustafa, it is revealed that he is the son of the King of Cyprus and Erminda's brother, which makes his marriage with the King's sister acceptable. The magician sets the example of forgiveness to the King by giving Tartaglia his human form back: Odoardo then forgives Girello.

"On foot and by rod" puppet

Marionette with counterweight

Not specified

Acciaiuoli Filippo (aka Gran Burattinajo)

Italy

Ronciglione

Venice

Printed

Revenge

Magic

Apparences

Reign

Love

Social condition

Fantasy

Burlesque

Comical

Farcical

Girello, 1668 (front cover).

Italian

Pluto

Proserpina

King

Queen

Sister

Slave

Brother

Pedant

Counselor

Nurse

Gardener

Prison guard

Magician

Music

Play in verse

Prologue

Macaronism

Confinement

Avista

Demons dance

Change of social status

Apparition of a wizard

Apparition of demons

Interlude

Enchantment

Transforming one character into another

Disguised character (false identity)

Role reversal

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Seduction scene

Thwarted love

Love duet

Allusion to the audience

Revelation

Girello

The Wandering Man

Damira, sentenced to drown by her husband Creonte, king of Egypt, was saved by the fisher Silo, who took her in with his wife Lerinda to raise her as their daughter, changing her name to Fidalba. During a royal hunting game, Silo gives Creonte water from the Nile. To thank him, Creonte invites him to Court with his family. Fillide, the king’s favourite, has two lovers – Nigrane and Breno – but she hopes to marry Creonte. However, when the king promises that he will marry her, a painting of Damira falls to the ground: Creonte has an unfavourable premonition. Breno and Nigrane, pining for love together, realise that they love the same woman. Creonte discovers them and condemns them to exile. Damira comes back to Court, disguised as Fidalba, with Silo and Lerinda; Nerillo organises a dance of Armenians for them. Fillide says goodbye to her two lovers. In the palace, Nerillo shows Fidalba a painting recounting Damira’s story, and he announces the wedding of Creonte and Fillide. The king welcomes Silo and Lerinda, and thinks he recognises their daughter as his ex-wife. Fillide tries to bring the wedding forward, but Fidalba interrupts her and announces that the king’s wife is still alive. While the young woman is thought to be mad, Creonte is plagued by remorse. Fillide overhears the end of his monologue and believes that she will be killed like Damira: she asks Breno to kill Creonte. Damira, hopeful, pretends to be mad. The act ends with a dance of madmen. Breno tries to kill Creonte, who is sleeping by the Nile; Nigrane prevents him from doing so, but he is wrongly accused of trying to kill the king, and he is poisoned. To save him, Fillide gives him her clothes and has him leave with Nerillo. She gave Silo a golden chain to thank him for his good offices. Out of jealousy, Lerinda tries to take revenge on her rival and reports that she fled with Nerillo; Damira, wanting to take revenge, hits Nigrane, dressed as Fillide. Excused because Lerinda thinks she is mad, Damira reveals her identity and asks Creonte to pierce her breast: he is moved and decides to take his wife back. Creonte uncovers the veiled figure, Nigrane, and everyone reconciles – accusing Cupid, the blind god.

Murder

favorite

Shepherdess

Egypt

Lyrical

Wife

Favorite

Knight

Captain

Eunuch

Peasant

Peasant (female)

Dancing entertainment

Love story

Love rivalry

Hunting scene

Sleeping character

Attempted assassination

Sword thrust

Cross-dressing

Scene of recognition

Damira placata

Damira pacified

The play begins with the sinking of Ulisse’s (Ulysses’) boat. Ulisse is saved by Almira, who was making a sacrifice to Minerva on the beach with a choir of young girls. The young woman falls in love with Ulisse and has him escorted to the Court of her father, Alcinoo (Alcinous). In the following scene, Delfo, Ulisse’s hunchback servant, comes out of the water on a dolphin’s back. Cirene, Almira’s fickle daughter, also falls in love with Ulisse, who is now staying at Court. The two sisters fight for the stranger’s love, while Ormindo, Cirene’s unhappy lover, learns that she is wooing Ulisse. The first act ends with a dance of gardeners, both male and female. Cirene speaks to Ulisse as she stands before her mirror: the prince confesses that he loves her, after Delfo made a few bawdy innuendos. Ormindo denounces his fickle lover to Ulisse, while Almira also confesses her love; her confession is echoed by Lisa’s farcical innuendos. Ulisse hesitates between the two sisters. Taking revenge on Cirene, Almira exposes her sister’s debauchery to Alcinoo, who swears that he will punish her. During a scene in which Ormindo draws Cirene’s portrait, the old nurse Lisa believes that the young man is pining for her. Disappointed when she learns the truth, she decides to take revenge on her rival by speaking in favour of Almira to Ulisse. Cirene’s father walks in on her as she is writing a letter to confess her love to the Prince of Ithaca. To save herself, she accuses Almira of having written the letter: Alcinoo disowns (his daughter) Almira. Ulisse, who received the letter which Delfo says was written by Almira, is at a loss to understand the situation, and he falls asleep. In his sleep, Minerva speaks to him and reminds him of his duty to his country and to his wife Penelope: when he wakes up, he decides to leave Phaeacia. Cirene, wearing a mask, dismisses Ormindo. Ulisse takes leave of Alcinoo and of his daughters. Alcinoo decides to marry Ormindo and Cirene, who refuses herself to her suitor: the king then offers him to marry his daughter Almira.

Shipwreck

Jealousy

Hospitality

Parodistic

Filippo Acciaiuoli, L'Ulisse in Feacia. Venezia: Francesco Nicolini, 1681 (title page).

Alcinoos

Young woman

Nausicaa

Prince

Lover (man)

Ulysses

Servant

Minerva

Shipwreck scene

Board meeting

Soliloquy

Letter

Masked characters

Dilemma

Dreamt scene

Deus ex machina

Flying machine

L'Ulisse in Feaccia

Ulysses in Phaeacia

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

Bernus Alexander von

Germany

Munich

Fool’s game

Gallantries

Lust

Garden

Secret

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

German

Chambermaid

Suitor

Faun

Statue

Nymph

Setup

Statue coming to life

Night scene

Estragon und Pimpernelle

Estragon and Pimpernelle

After a long silent prologue evoking the creation of the world and then the fertilisation of an ovum by a “ballet of spermatozoids”, the Poète (Poet) brings into focus the birth of two characters – Homme (Man) and then Femme (Woman). They both feel the “tragic desire to be made complete”. They make love and are thus made whole. But disease, infidelity, weapons and secrets appear with the birth of the city. Homme and Femme forget one another. A new concrete city takes over the old one, and no space is left for emotions. Homme finds himself in a crowd led by money, proprietorship and the market. Why waste your life for machines, Homme asks? Why give birth to children in a world that is filled with pain, Femme asks as an echo? Determined “not to accept the unacceptable”, “not to allow to not live” and to “organise the dream”, they meet again before fading into the growing darkness.

Rod puppet

Adults

France

Metz

Sexuality

Labour

Daily life

Industry

Pollution

Madness

Philosophical tale

Erotic

Gabriel Cousin, Oratorio pour une vie, L'Avant-scène théâtre, n° 702, 1982 (cover page)