»Sound disturbance« – »Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, wants not, wants not, what I will!« These are the words of the poor fisherman whose wife’s desires grow ever larger. A big, glorious fish appears and begins to speak. With puppets, songs, dance, text and music, an extremely diverse piece adapted from the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm comes to life.

Hardly any other fairy tale is so contemporary – our desires become ever more exorbitant, numerous and unrealistic. The children are brought into the piece to play, sing, dance and help along.

Berndt Stübner, born in 1947 in Leipzig, is an actor at Schauspiel Leipzig and has performed countless roles in classical and modern plays. He was a guest lecturer at the Theaterhochschule »Hans Otto« in Leipzig and played in cinema and TV films.

Werner Stiefel, born in 1954 in Malchin/Mecklenburg, was a member of the ballet at the Oper Leipzig from 1972-90 and became its first soloist in 1983. He was a member of the dance theatre at Schauspiel Leipzig from 1990-96. Werner Stiefel has been creating his own choreographies since 1985 and has been especially successful with his children’s programmes. His production »Dornröschen – Hinter der Dornenhecke« (»Sleeping beauty – behind the thorn hedge«) received its world premiere at euro-scene Leipzig in 2003.

Tilo Augsten teaches improvisation at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater »Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy« in Leipzig.

»Berndt Stübner is an institution of the Leipzig theatre scene … as a director and puppet builder, he has been creating fantastical fairy tale worlds for young audiences from more or less nothing for many years« (Tobias Prüwer, kreuzer, Leipzig, May 2011).