The enchanter Merlin captured Marie – the young woman loved by the painter Arthur. To free her, Arthur and his valet Guignol go through many adventures. Merlin comes into Arthur’s workshop so that he draws his portrait. Guignol also tries to paint Merlin’s portrait, but he fights with the painting, which keeps transforming because of the enchanter’s spells. Arthur then visits Merlin thanks to a gift from Marie’s godmother – the Fée Merveilleuse (Marvellous Fairy): a talisman that makes him invisible. Only Marie can see him. She advises him to go to the Sorcière’s hut (the Witch’s hut), which he does with Guignol. At the Sorcière’s hut, they meet the madman Richepance – her assistant. The Sorcière welcomes Arthur while Guignol is mistreated for a long time by the furniture of the house which keeps playing with him. Arthur and Guignol can finally save Marie. But she is under a spell by Merlin that makes her look very old. Arthur still wishes to free and marry her, but Marie believes that it would be too great a sacrifice for him to marry an old woman. Merlin is jubilant at the sight of the torn couple. The Fée Merveilleuse is moved by Arthur’s devotion. She sets Marie free from the spell and restores her true appearance. The lovers can finally marry, and Merlin is defeated.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Saint-Étienne

Manuscript

Love

Magic

Valet

Kidnapping

Test

Portrait

Fantasy

Comical

La Case de la sorcière (cover page)

French

Guignol

Magician

Merlin

Fairy

Situation comedy

Word warping

Apparition of a wizard

Magic spell

Set that comes to life

Slaps

Change of age

Invisible force

La Case de la sorcière

The witch's Hut

After having locked the devil up in a box (in <a href="https://puppetplays.eu/en/oeuvres/5840/kasperl-und-der-teufel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kasperl und der Teufel</a>), Kasperl wants to throw him in the water. Suddenly, it is his wife who emerges from the box… and who starts to slap him many times to take revenge, for he wanted to get rid of her (<a href="https://puppetplays.eu/en/oeuvres/5777/frau-kasperl-und-die-k%C3%B6chin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frau Kasperl und die Köchin</a>)! Kasperl ends up throwing both his wife and the box out of the glove-puppet booth, and then goes to the inn. On the way, he encounters a curious animal peeping at him; he pets the animal, which bites him. He fetches a sausage to feed the animal, but decides to eat it and gives the skin of the sausage to the animal. The animal catches Kasperl’s arm with its maw, then catches him by the back of his pants… Kasperl goes to get his stick, which the animal tries to steal from him; the animal gets beaten and runs away, followed by Kasperl who wants to knock it out.

Not specified

Reinhardt Carl

Germany

Munich

Printed

Sausage

Animal

Beast

Stick

Mace

Woman

Devil

Nightingale

Crocodile

Tavern

Jaws

Glutton

Hunger

Tralala

Hits

Radirullala

Grotesque

Farcical

Carl Reinhardt, Das geheimnisvolle Tier, 1852.

German

Kasperl

Madame Kasperl

Chase

Blow-with-a-stick

Domestic scene

Das geheimnisvolle Tier

The mysterious animal

Casperl gets drunk with the hunter Thomerl and Thomerl offers to put Casperl’s wife Grethl to the test: Casperl has to fake an illness that will lead to his death, and Thomerl, disguised as a doctor, will come and certify the death. As soon as Casperl is pronounced dead, Grethl tries to console herself in the arms of Lieutenant Pulvermann. The fake dead man is resurrected, a fight ensues in which Pulvermann is killed and the corpse is taken backstage. A police officer comes to seize Casperl, but husband and wife join forces against the impetuous man, who is forced to give in to the violence. To celebrate their reconciliation, Casperl and Grethl go to the inn, where they also meet with Thomerl.

Pocci Franz von

Wedding

Household

Philosophy

Beer

Wine

Gluttony

Doctor

Drunkenness

Medicine

Grief

Scatology

Reconciliation

Ein beispielloses Spektakelstück

Thomerl

Lieutenant

Police officer

Monologue

Macaronism

Word for another

Song

Spying scene

Parody of formal language

Aside

Fake death

Disguise

Dream

Brawl

Murder on stage

Dance

Die Prüfung

The test

Arriving in China after a failed emigration to America, Kasperl finds himself in the service of the Mandarin Quingquing, Emperor Schunschi's "Minister of Confused Affairs". While styling his master's pigtail for the audience, Kasperl gets annoyed at not understanding what Quingquing is saying in Chinese and slaps him to death. Kasperl disguises himself as a Mandarin and goes to the hearing in his place, where he argues with Schunschi. When Schunschi retires, he asks for a drink. A barrel is brought to him, but opening it is an actual Chinese puzzle. The ghost of Quingquing finally emerges. Kasperl knocks him out and then resolves to drink tea, promising himself to return to Germany without delay.

String marionette

Pigtail

Phantom

Despotism

Triviality

Minister

Barrel

Emigration

Journey

China

Emperor

Valet de chambre

Slave

Apparition

Hyperbolic action

Ridiculous fight

Dialogue of the deaf

Kasperl in China

A painter named Schmierpinsel is at an award-winning ceremony. In his absence, Casperl, his servant, pretends to be the painter to a lady who wants to have her portrait made. Casperl takes a down payment, then paints a donkey’s head and hits the outraged woman with the canvas. Upon his return, Schmierpinsel is called at the police station. After his statement, the police chief, Karrnpichler, interrogates Casperl. The latter smears paint on the police chief's face before throwing him out.

Young audiences

Painting

Originality

Genie

Cheekiness

Prestige

Stammering

Outrage

Drink

Interrogation

Satirical

Ein malerisches Lustspiel

Lady

Police Superintendant

Address to the public

Comic stuttering

Casperl als Porträtmaler

Casperl portrait painter

A moneylender nicknamed “'a Sberressa” (the policewoman) insults an old man and another poor man who cannot repay their debts. Her partner Nirone helps her and smacks every defaulting debtor. The Sberressa even forces one of the debtors, Rosenella, to give her money she had saved on the side to pay for medicine for her dying mother. These last abuses of power prompt two debtors to ask for Nicolino Iossa’s help. Nicolina does not hesitate and helps the poor victims of the moneylender. As punishment, he smacks the Sberressa and Nirone and forces them to give Rosenella her money back.

Rod and string marionette

Perna Ciro

Wear and tear

Abuse

Protection

Poverty

Violence

Punishment

Battered woman

Cycle of performances

Realist

Dramatic

Neapolitan

Moneylander

Old man

Old woman

Thug

Debtor

Commoner (female)

Aria

Echoing lines

Shouts of acclamation in several voices

'E sorde co 'nteresse

Money with interests

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.

Bare hand

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Hand

The Devil's Hand

Thirst

Theft

Sorcery

Pâté

Cunning

False repentance

Fantastic

Polichinelle

Part of human body

Magical formula

Hands visible

Plot twist

Thumbing one's nose

Punching

Off-stage voice

Final intervention of the devil

La Grand'Main

The Big Hand

The rich Cassandre, desperate for his foolish and insolent son Pierrot, is prepared to hire a very expensive tutor. Polichinelle is hired, but his bad lessons in obedience, geography, arithmetic, morals and fencing immediately turn Pierrot into a brawler, drinker, liar and thief who ends up being hanged for swindling Arlequin, the cabaret owner. When Cassandra complains to Polichinelle, he kills him with a stick. Denounced by Arlequin as Pierrot's accomplice, Polichinelle kills the gendarme who came to arrest him. He is taken away by the Devil.

Relationship between father and son

Silliness

Education

Lesson

Swindling

Pierrot

Arlecchino

Constable

Headbutt

Hanging scene

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

Polichinelle précepteur

Polichinelle preceptor

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.