Children would stick the characters to cardboard and cut them out, performing their own versions of the stories in small toy theatres. Script details and paper versions of the characters were made in Épinal, Nancy, and Augsburg.
At the height of popularity the most famous of Séraphin's shadow plays were reproduced so that children could perform them. Amongst Séraphin's most popular works was Le Pont Cassé (The Broken Bridge), a play based on a musical piece by Louis-Gabriel Guillemain. He made a variety of devices and performed several different acts including "Le Chasse aux canards" (The Duck Hunt), "Le Magicien Rothomago" (Rothomago the Magician), and "L'Embarras du ménage" (The Embarrassment of the Household). Rather than use hidden performers moving the parts of the silhouetted puppets, Séraphin developed the use of clockwork mechanisms to automate the show. Séraphin had adapted the Ombres Chinoises and devised new methods to control the shadow-throwing puppets. Séraphin died in 1800 but his shows continued initially under the direction of his nephew until the theatre closed in 1870. The performances would continue through the French Revolution. During this time Marie Antoinette visited three of his plays. In 1784 Séraphin moved to Paris, performing his shows at the newly opened Palais-Royal from 8 September 1784. Though he started the show in humble beginnings they became such a success, including regular visits from the aristocracy, that Séraphin would go on to perform at the Palace of Versailles in front of royalty. Séraphin introduced his version of the act at the back of a Versailles inn during the early 1770s. European travellers saw these "Ombres Chinoises" (Chinese shadows) and returned home with descriptions of their performance.
The art of using shadows to form figures onto a screen can be traced back to 9th-century Indonesia and China. Séraphin was born in Longwy, near Luxembourg.
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