With the help of his assistant Anja, Ottocaro Weiss intends to put the plague on stage: circumstances beyond his control and a lack of fresh talent have forced him to close down his flea circus. For Weiss, the plague means the «extinction of everything that makes life miserable and low and freedom along with it. Unbeknownst to him, he has won the support of a patron who is of the exact opposite opinion: for Johannes Wagner, the plague is an organising principle, and, aided by his agent Moosbrugger, he is able to smuggle a new number onto the programme. Whereas Ottocaro Weiss means to represent the plague theatrically, what appears on stage is the scientific reality of the rat-borne infestation.
François Simon
as Ottocaro Weiss
Paul Gogel
as Johannes Wagner
Norbert Schwientek
as Stephan Moosbrugger
Janine Weill
as Anja, artist
Gothard Dietrich
as Ringmaster
Gerhard Dorfer
as Insurance agent
Peter Kner
as TV editor
Wolfgang Rottsieper
as Germanist
