After spectacular guest performances at Circus Schumann in 1910 and 1911 with the plays “Oedipus Rex,” “Oresteia,” and “Jedermann,” Max Reinhardt attempted to establish this form of theater, in which the audience surrounds a circular stage, in Berlin.
Reinhardt took over the circus building and had it redesigned by architect Hans Poelzig into the Große Schauspielhaus (Grand Theater). The expressionist-style renovation created the most modern theater in Europe at the time, with 3,200 seats and innovative technology. The impressive renovation was inaugurated with a revival of “The Oresteia.” To ensure financial success, the building became a revue theater in the 1920s, shaping the decade.

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