Theater landscapes

Essen was never really a theater city, the coal and steel industry was too dominant in the 19th century.
Today, the sixth-largest city in Germany is a service location, with three quarters of the working population employed in this sector.
And the theater with its drama, ballet, philharmonic orchestra and the Aalto Opera makes a name for itself with spectacular productions.

Esther Schweins introduces the Schauspiel Essen, which bears the name of the man who donated it to the city of Essen: the "Grillo Theater".
Typically for Essen, Friedrich Grillo was a major industrialist.
He contributed more than 500,000 marks to the construction so that the theater could be opened in 1892.
Friedrich Alfred Krupp also supported the theater with 10,000 marks a year - but he never visited it.
The current artistic director Anselm Weber and Oliver Scheydt, Essen's head of cultural affairs, talk about the influence the city has on the theater today.
Hansgünther Heyme also talks about how he brought the "Theater der Welt" festival to Essen in 1991.
Actors Jutta Wachowiak and Günter Lamprecht and director and former Folkwang student Werner Wöllbern also have their say.