Documentary about the production "The Aesthetics of Resistance" based on the novel by Peter Weiss at Schauspiel Essen. On 1000 pages Peter Weiss pushed his protagonists into the vortex of despair of a generation. Lost between the desire to surrender, the gap between political conviction and personal happiness, and finally into the violent death in the Prison Barrack Berlin Pflötzensee. For 30 years, "The Aesthetics of Resistance" has been a standard work in German cultural history. On May 24, 2012, the curtain was raised in Essen's Grillo Theater for the premiere of the stage version by Tilman Neuffer and Thomas Krupa. Directed by Thomas Krupa, the cast is wrestling with the overwhelming question of how much aesthetics the resistance may allow, how much art a person needs to fight the temptations of violence.