In the Valais canton, the sun rises over a pathway and a small wooden house. The mountains appear in the background. It is spring; the goatherd’s horn can be heard in the valley and the goats come running. The village of Savièze comes to life: the girls riding on mules’ backs go to work in the vineyard, two women are chatting, the pigs try to run away from the farmers,… A family of English tourists goes on a walk guided by Lord Quick, who is leading his daughters as a shepherd guides his flock… A storm breaks out in the valley, forcing the tourists, the shepherds and the animals to seek shelter. After the storm, the hikers finish climbing the high mountain and a chamois hunt resumes. Bells and prayers can be heard as a procession slowly walks towards the old chapel of Savièze: the women, the penitents, the priests, the altar children and the elderly are all part of it. The village finally celebrates Christmas before falling asleep under the snow.

Shadow theatre

All audiences

Switzerland

Geneva

Printed outline

Mountain

Seasons

Storm

Bucolic

Christmas

Alps

Tourism

Nature

Realist

Lyrical

Comical

Outline of Henri van Muyden's Goatherd for En Valais, copied in Le Sapajou.

French

Goat

Shepherd

Tourist

English man

Painter

Bull

Porcher

Hunter

Chamois

Daughter

Penitent

Choirboy

Old man

Priest

Boniment

Procession

Apotheosis

Song

Comical foreign accent

En Valais

Three women – young Janet, her mother, and her grandmother – take refuge in a stable while a storm and the temptations of St. Anthony are raging outside. Janet asks in vain to be explained what these temptations are. Saint Anthony (called Anthony Perkins) is in a cell and only has his Halo, his Clock, and his Calendar as friends. He prays to Zeus to send him temptations, for they never reach him. Time flies, and he ends up dying of boredom. Shortly after Anthony’s death, the now old Queen of Sheba enters his cell, accompanied by Gustave Flaubert. The Queen of Sheba dies, disappointed that she could not tempt Anthony. Flaubert asks two eunuchs to bury them. Cleo di Patra appears in the sky, surrounded by angels. The play ends with a great ballet and a funeral cortege.

String marionette

Not specified

Craig Edward Gordon

Italy

Marina di Pisa

Printed

Waiting

Temptation

Desappointment

Lust

Chastity

Hermit

Satirical

English

Saint Anthony the Great

Clock

Gustave Flaubert

Old woman

Queen of Sheba

Cleopatra

Angel

Black Man

Domestic servant

Eunuch

Stormy scene

Reading aloud

Object coming to life

Speeding up of time

Instrumental tune

Death on stage

Avista

Ballet

Current affairs

The Temptation of St Anthony

La Tentation de saint Antoine

The play starts with the initial call of the town crier announcing the arrival, early in the morning, of the dulcian player. The bell is rung three times to catch people’s attention and the dulcian player plays his first notes: the first parade of the festival begins. Then the mayor makes a speech inviting everyone to come to the celebration. The town crier then introduces the procession of Sant Antoni (Saint Anthony), with the dance “dels cavallets” (the “little horses”, or skirted hobby horses). The fishmonger then announces the Saint’s celebration, by imitating the sermon of the priest using a hagiographic tone. Then, interrupting the procession, the devil appears and incites everyone to follow him, but the angel appears and fights the Devil: the procession resumes. Then the “Cabut” (a big head) invites people to dance with other big heads and with giants to the sound of the dulcians. Once the march is over and people have returned to the main square, the town crier shouts and the bull is released (the effigy of a bull mounted on wheels), the balls fixated on the bull’s horns are set on fire and all the other rituals surrounding the ancestral rite of the “toro embolat” (the burning bull) begin, as the music of the dulcians still plays. The show and the festive episode itself end with the town crier announcing the final dance, which can be accompanied by songs and a bonfire.

Actor and puppet

Costume puppet

Giant puppet

Skirted hobby horse

Spain

Villarreal

Tales

Street theatre

Popular festival

Traditional music

Cult of the saints

Religious

Cover page of the edition of El dolçainer de Tales. Xarxa Teatre. Castelló: Diputació de Castelló, 1987.

Catalan

Town crier

Mayor

Fishmonger (lady)

Devil

Big head

Musician

Young woman

Theatre within the theatre

Dance

Monologue

Pyrotechnics

El dolçainer de Tales

The dulcian player from Tales

A French journalist – François – is in a country at war to work on a report. He is welcomed by Malik – the leader of one of the camps, a collector of weapons and a fan of the Western consumer society and of the soap opera Santa Barbara. François also meets a sculptor monk, who happily guards the “cemetery of idiots”, and Marcel, a blind professor who philosophises about the fall of communism and the moral misery of humanity. François shows more and more aversion to the trade of journalism, which forces him to seek for the most gruesome news, and aversion also to humanity as a whole. The rats take an interest in this personal crisis: they are looking to communicate with him. Then the journalist meets the leader of the enemy camp, who happens to be Malik. For years, the militiamen have been fighting against themselves, playing the role of two enemy camps. The rats explain their inter-species cooperation project to François, the aim of which is to clean up the waste on Earth, and to purge humanity of its metaphysical stain. A world summit of good neighbourliness is organised in Luxembourg, to discuss the modalities of the alliance. But the rats are too visible and so the situation slowly deteriorates. The play ends with François’ burial in the “cemetery of idiots”.