Theaterservice Carinthia

Seppi Ess

Beatrix Erlacher-Heinzl presented Seppi Ess with the first Adi Peichl Prize.

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek/EVELYN HRONEK)

The last day of this year's Customs Fair was the first day on which the Adi Peichl Prize was awarded. The Klagenfurt actor Seppi Ess was honored for his commitment, especially in the comic field.

Theaterservice Kärnten, which has been helping Carinthian theater groups with advice and support for 61 years and has a huge library of 13,000 books with plays from A for Anzengruber to Z for Zuckmayer, has awarded the Georg Bucher sculpture for special commitment to the theater scene for many years. This year, for the first time, a theater maker was awarded the Adi Peichl Prize.

The first prize winner is well known to Carinthian theater audiences: Seppi Ess. The 72-year-old celebrated his first premiere in 1958 in the Kolpingsaal in Klagenfurt with the play "Der goldene Einser" - directed by Georg Bucher. From 1960, Seppi appeared on stage in amateur theater at the St. Josef Siebenhügel youth home in the provincial capital.

In 1978, he founded the Klagenfurt ensemble with Maximilian Achatz, Heinrich Baumgartner and Armin Felsberger. From 1979, the Klagenfurt native could also be seen on the Villach studio stage under the direction of Alfred Meschnigg.

From 1980, he entertained audiences at the Komödienspiele Porcia in Spittal, and in the fall of the same year, Seppi Ess had his first engagement at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt under the direction of Herbert Wochinz.

"Serious professions"
He was also active in what Seppi calls "serious professions": as an advertising manager, for example. Ess was also co-organizer of the Literary Flea Market in Lendhafen and founded the Association for the Promotion of Humour and the Theater im Lustgarten.

I was involved in several cinema and television productions. We even won an award for the film 'Night of the Murderers'; not the Oscar, but the award for the worst horror film of all time.

lacht Seppi Ess, Urgestein der Kärntner Schauspielszene

However, he continued to receive applause for his acting in the independent scene, even in the Wild West at the Karl May Festival in Gurktal. Seppi was also often active as a director.

His flair for comedy, his courage to be anything on stage, even strange or ugly, and his routine, which comes in handy in the event of a text hang-up, characterize Seppi.

On Sunday, Seppi Ess received the first Adi Peichl Prize, a glass sculpture made by Christine Starzacher, from the hands of Theater Service Chairwoman Beatrix Erlacher-Heinzl.