Great World Theatre

Great World Theatre

June-September (2000, 2007, ...)

Performed every several years in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, the play known as El Gran Teatro del Mundo (Great World Theatre) is the work of Pedro Calderón de la Barca, a 17th-century Spanish dramatist and master of the auto sacramental, a type of religious drama in which allegory is used to explain the mysteries of Christianity. In El Gran Teatre del Mundo, six representatives of humanity, from beggar to king, face life's challenges and must account for their actions on Judgment Day. The play is performed in German before the facade of a Benedictine monastery and church with a cast of more than 500 townspeople. After the show, the director invites most of the cast to a Eucharistic banquet—with the exception of the Rich Man, who is sent to hell.

CONTACTS:
Einsiedeln Tourism Information
Hauptstrasse 85
Einsiedeln, 8840 Switzerland
41-55-418-4488; fax: 41-55-418-4480

SOURCES:
FestEur-1961, p. 155
IntlThFolk-1979, p. 350