German art teacher and puppeteer. Theodor Schück founded his puppet theatre in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1912. It quickly reached a high artistic level. The performances were fairy tales and topical parodies that were characterized by an ironic mixture of romance and realism. Schück poked fun at the small town narrow-mindedness of his home region in the dialogues and plots of his local comedies. He exaggerated the idea of order of his down-to-earth protagonists to such a degree that it was lacking any foundation. The plays he published under the pseudonym Alexander Pepusch demonstrate the complex logic and artistic mastery of language of his role model, the great German comedian Karl Valentin.

(See Germany.)