Theater landscapes

The Ruhr region at the beginning of the 20th century: there is a gold-rush atmosphere.
Mines and factories are built, workers flock to the up-and-coming cities - including Oberhausen.
The city develops rapidly and as early as 1920 Oberhausen has its own theater: the Stadttheater Oberhausen.
But the artistic upswing is soon abruptly interrupted.
In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr region.
The theater was closed for a short time.
But only a short time later, the theater caused a sensation again with Vera Skoronel's revolutionary dance theater.
She is one of the first representatives of modern dance in Germany.

And another great of his profession lays the foundation for his career here: Will Quadflieg, born in Oberhausen in 1914, only wanted one thing: to be on stage.
He makes his debut in his home town in 1933.
But it was the time of Hitler's seizure of power and the Nazis did not stop at the Oberhausen theater.
In April 1943, large parts of the city - including the theater - were destroyed in bombing raids.

After the war, reconstruction progresses rapidly, and as early as 1949 Oberhausen is the first city in the Ruhr region to have a viable theater again.
Cultural life slowly returns.
Five years later, the city even had its own film festival: the West German Short Film Festival, later renamed the "International Short Film Festival Oberhausen".
The festival became famous in 1962 with the "Oberhausen Manifesto", which called for an independent auteur cinema under the motto "Papa's cinema is dead".
The revolt mood in the city is just right for Theater Oberhausen.
In reference to the Oberhausen Manifesto, director Günther Büch takes to the stage with the battle cry "Dad's theater is dead".

But once again, the upswing is short-lived: the coal and steel crisis that begins in the 1970s also affects the theater.
The city had to make savings - and did so in the theater.
At the end of the 1972/73 season, the drama department is closed.

It was not until the beginning of the 90s that Oberhausen realized that it needed a theater again.
In 1992, Klaus Weise arrived as the new artistic director.
In order to re-establish the theater, he comes up with something special.
He moved the productions to places that had provided work for the people of Oberhausen for decades and now lay fallow, such as the famous gasometer.
From 2002 to 2008, Johannes Lepper continued the successful work of his predecessor.
And Peter Carp has recently become the new artistic director.
He faces the great challenge of leading Theater Oberhausen into the next generation.
The people of Oberhausen wish him "good luck".

First broadcast on ZDFtheaterkanal: Mon, 01.12.2008 19:00 h