Otto, Teo

(1904-1968)

   Designer. Otto was among the most prolific stage designers the German theater ever produced. He became chief designer for the Prussian State Theater in 1930, and in a career that remained active until his death, he completed designs for more than 800 productions. He emigrated to Switzerland in 1933, becoming resident designer for the Zurich Schauspielhaus. Immediately after the war, Otto began a long-standing collaboration with Harry Buckwitz, but he worked extensively as well at the Burgtheater in Vienna at the Salzburg Festival. He also worked with numerous directors in several other non-German venues, including New York, London, Paris, and Milan. Otto is perhaps best known for the numerous Bertolt Brecht designs he completed for Buckwitz in Frankfurt am Main in the 1950s; he was named professor of stage design at the Art Academy of Düsseldorf in 1959, a post he held until his death.