Guignol's Big Stick

At the market this week I noticed a sign advertising a marionette show that would be held in a "place"(grassy area) this week in our town. I have always been interested in the marionette tradition in France, so I was delighted to find that we would be having a show in our town this week. It seems that marionette shows are a traditional children's activity here and one can find marionette theaters in the parks in Paris, but the last time we tried to take SA to one there, she was too young and not a bit interested. However, this week, in our town, we bought tickets, entered the big red and blue tent, chatted with the local Billomoise and, despite one short power outage, enjoyed the show.

Guignol, the main character of most French marionette shows is funny, but in our local show, he used his big stick to beat up the "voleur" (thief) who had stolen the treasure from Monsieur Beau Soleil. While I was laughing, I noticed SA looking at me in horror with a "Why are we laughing at this?" look on her face. I have taught her not to hit, and here we are laughing at these marionettes doing what I have taught her not to do. The moral of the show for the children was "don't steal" with a type of "Three Stooges" humor, but I am not sure how to explain this type of humor to a three year old. Click on the arrow button above to watch a different "Guignol" skit.