Alfred Roller (design)
Revolving stage model for Goethe’s “Faust I”
1909
(Production by Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, 1909)
Theater Studies Collection of the University of Cologne
In March 1909, Max Reinhardt (1873–1943) staged Goethe’s “Faust. Part I” using a revolving stage, which was a novelty at the time. Whereas the setting had previously been depicted using painted backdrops, the play was now performed in three-dimensional spaces. Reinhardt had first used the revolving stage in Berlin in 1905.
The director liked to commission visual artists to design the stage and costumes. In this case, it was Alfred Roller (1864–1935), co-founder of the Vienna Secession and an experienced stage designer.