ischesKasperletheaterseries by theBerlin-basedA. HoffmannVerlag.²⁶Afa-
mous character from the German puppet theater tradition,Kasper (orKasperle)
is usually described as an irreverent jester-figure in the tradition of Pulcinella
from theItaliancommedia dell’arte.Loud, frank,cheeky,and equipped with a
slapstick, he embodies the liberating effect of aggression and the subversive
power of laughter.Atthe sametime, his affinities for the exaggerated and the
grotesque come with an enduringbelief in the importance of moral distinctions
and ethical principles. RedKasper,his youngsocialist offspring,regularlyfights
modern-dayversions of the oldkingsand robbers,effecting areversal of the
moral order that in the traditional puppet plays makes king,prince, and princess
the sole objects of respect and desire. Confronted with their modern reincarna-
tions, the spiritedyoungchampion of the proletariat simplytells them toget
lost:“Yes, my dear old hero from the‘good old times,’your days are numbered.
The working-class children don’tneed wondrous taleswith all thatdusty stuff of
‘good fairies and beautiful princesses.’”²⁷Time and again the RedKaspershows
children how to mistrustauthorities, challengehierarchies,and stand up for the
common people. Moreover,his physical tricks andverbal tirades offer plentyof
evidence that social reality can indeed be changed and that knowledge is, in
fact,power.Acknowledging the puppet’sirreverent spirit,Fritz Blaszovsky de-
scribes him as“atrustworthyhelperofthe oppressed, always rebellingagainst
those who abuse theirauthority and power.His project is the fight against all
forms of injustice.”²⁸
InRevolte imKasperhaus(1929,Revolt inKasper’sHouse),apuppet playby
SPD reform pedagogue Ernst HeinrichBethge(1878–1944) who wroteunder the
pseudonym LoboFrank, ComradeKasper is onceagain busy preventing wrong-
doingsand modeling solutions.Inthe scene cited here, he uses indignation and
irreverencetoinstillamilitant watchfulness in hisyoung fans that can be prac-
ticed even on their parents.Hedemonstrates howto catch capitalists hiding their
Forextensive documentation, see ErnstFriedrichSuhr and GinaWeinkauff, eds.,Revolte im
Kasperhaus. Ein Lesebuch mit Dokumenten undBildern zumPuppentheater der Arbeiterjugendbe-
wegung(Cologne: Prometh, 1983).Forahistorical overview,also see GinaWeinkauff, Der Rote
Kasper.Das Figurentheater in der pädagogisch-kulturellen Praxis der deutschen und österreichi-
schen Arbeiterbewegung von 1918– 1933 (Bochum: DeutschesInstitut für Puppenspiel, 1982). A
series of short puppet plays was published inLeipzigbythe SPD-affiliated Arbeiter-Theater-Ver-
lagAlfredJahn under the titleDer roteKasper;his communist counterpartappeared in the Pro-
letarischesKasperle Theater series by the Berlin-based A. HoffmannVerlag.
J. Heisser,“Der proletarischeKasper,”Das proletarische Kind11.4/5(1931):83.
Quoted inFranz Studynka,Der roteKasperl. Anleitung zumKasperlspielen(Vienna:Jung-
brunnen, 1929), 11.
284 Chapter15