Vienna in May 1873: a huge speculative bubble bursts on the stock exchange, which had formed in the run-up to the recently opened World Exhibition. Under the impact of the financial crisis, the most famous of all operettas is created: Die Fledermaus. In it, Johann Strauss holds up a mirror to the bourgeoisie of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Gabriel von Eisenstein does not live from his work, [...]

1773: The author, spy, arms dealer and revolutionary Beaumarchais writes the comedy of the cunning barber, without whom the Count cannot get Rosina, the object of his desires. 200 years later: the revolution has triumphed. History repeats itself as a farce. Somewhere in a post-Soviet flat settlement. Rosina is bored on her terraced balcony. Her son has [...]

Mr. and Mrs. Drosselmeyer are puppeteers. Every year they invite their niece Marie and her nephew Fritz, as well as the town's poor and orphans, to their house for a performance on Christmas Eve. Fritz is a lout. He breaks everything that doesn't fit into his world view. The Drosselmeyers take the more sensitive Marie to their workshop, where she [...]