ONCE UPON A TIME and perhaps not...
2024
ONCE UPON A TIME and perhaps not...
The origins of most fairy tales go back thousands of years. They were passed down from generation to generation and, in all their simplicity, are rich in imagination, violence, harsh justice and miracles.
Fairy tales are linked to the childhood and the personal memories of each and every one of us. In Germany. A Winter’s Tale, Heinrich Heine thus recalls his nurse, who told the tale of the goose girl and the talking horse’s head.
It is a calming pleasure to hear the same fairy tale over and over again, magically leading us to a happy ending.
Through drama, music, dance, puppetry and mask play, Ton und Kirschen aim to awaken the magic and warnings that lie in fairy tales. They wish to create a shared experience with the public in which space is given to the imagination of each individual audience member and even the unsaid has meaning.
A CREATION OF TON UND KIRSCHEN THEATRE
Stage direction & Dramaturgy Margarete Biereye, David Johnston und Daisy Watkiss
Acting Margarete Biereye, Polina Borissova, Maximilian Friedel, David Johnston, Nelson Leon, Daisy Watkiss
Ligthing and set design Daisy Watkiss
Puppets Nelson Leon, Daisy Watkiss
Horse, Masks Josephine Biereye, Patrick Sims
Sound design Polina Borissova
Composition David Jonston und Polina Borissova, 3 Klavierstücke von Georges Gurdjieff
Fotos Marion Kollenrott, Jean-Pierre Estournet
PRESS
Textur, Büro für Text und Kultur, Astrid Priebs-Tröger, October 2024
In their latest production, the actors, musicians and handymen of Ton und Kirschen once again draw on all the registers of their theatrical art with incomparable poetry. The six performers – including two new protagonists (Polina Borissova and Maximilian Friedel) – play countless roles and once again manipulate a multitude of puppets, wonderfully constructed as always by Daisy Watkiss and Nelson Leon.
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Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung, Karim Saab, October 2024
Almost every year since 1992, the travelling theatre company Ton und Kirschen has challenged the dwindling ranks of cultural journalists to find appropriate words to describe its idiosyncratic, visually rich stage language. They talk of ‘imaginative power’ and a distinctly ‘inspired and multi-layered performance’.
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Tagesspiegel, PNN, Lena Schneider, October 2024
The charm of this evening: it takes the time to make room for humour, music, melancholy and burlesque moments that arise on the fringes of familiar stories. Nostalgia is never far away, but it is counterbalanced by a great deal of self-deprecation.
Radio 3 rbb. Ein Vorbericht von Regine Bruckmann, August 2025
Open-Air-Theaterproduktion vom Ton und Kirschen Wandertheater „Es war einmal und war auch nicht …“ Märchenhaft, poetisch und ein bisschen skurril: Das „Ton und Kirschen Wandertheater“ ist mit seiner neuen Inszenierung „Es war einmal und war auch nicht …“ unterwegs – unter freiem Himmel und mit viel Fantasie. Regine Bruckmann war vorab für radio3 dabei und berichtet, was das Publikum in Brandenburg und Berlin erwartet.
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Kulturextra, Stefan Bock, Septembre 2025
Magical fairy tale potpourri on the shores of Lake Glindow. An enchanting potpourri of tales by the Brothers Grimm and other stories, set against the exceptional natural backdrop of Lake Glindow. The minimalist sets, made of wood, ropes and hand-painted curtains, are installed by the troupe on the meadow by the lake, accompanied by birdsong, the lapping of the water and a light breeze rustling the leaves of the trees and rippling the large canvases on stage. All this is more than enough, and yet, on this early September evening, the troupe still has plenty of surprises in store for us.