Since its foundation in 1919, the Schauspielhaus has been one of Germany's best-known theaters.
In the first decades, the young stage owed this reputation above all to the classic performances of the artistic director Saladin Schmitt.
In the so-called "Bochum style", decorative and sumptuous performances were created, with the drama text taking center stage.
Under his successor Hans Schalla, Artistic Director from 1949 to 1972, it also remained a focus of Bochum's theater work, with more modern interpretations of the material coming to the fore.
The following directors Peter Zadek, Claus Peymann, Frank-Patrick Steckel and Leander Haußmann did not continue this theatrical competition, but with their ensembles and their different artistic focuses they repeatedly caused a stir beyond the region.
Matthias Hartmann has been artistic director of the Schauspielhaus since the beginning of the 2000/01 season.
In the anniversary season "50 years of the new Schauspielhaus Bochum", Esther Schweins presents the renowned stage in the Ruhr region.
In addition to archive material and production excerpts, the film also shows previously unpublished footage of Claus Peymann as a protesting squatter in the early 1980s.
In their statements, actors Gisela Uhlen, Hermann Lause and Traugott Buhre emphasize the supra-regional significance of the theater.
Esther Schweins also visits the small "corner store" opposite the theater and learns a lot about the habits of the actors and directors of the Bochum Schauspielhaus.