Gesprek | Mephisto: On Conscience, Power and Artistic Freedom

De voertaal is Engels. 

In 1936, Klaus Mann’s novel Mephisto was first published by the Amsterdam-based publisher Querido, while the author was living in self-imposed exile because of the Nazi regime.
In November 2026, an adaptation of the novel will premiere for the first time at Het Nationale Theater in The Hague, directed by Eric de Vroedt. Israeli dramaturg Maya Arad Yasur has been commissioned to adapt the novel for the stage.

The novel draws on themes from Goethe’s Faust and follows the life of actor Hendrik Höfgen, a barely disguised portrayal of the German actor Gustaf Gründgens. Gründgens remained in Germany in 1933 and built a career in the Third Reich. He became an icon as an actor, director and theatre manager. The career of Gustaf Gründgens – the embodiment of Mephistopheles – began and ended on the stages of Hamburg. In 1960, he adapted his Hamburg Faust production for the big screen, which became legendary, with Will Quadflieg as Faust and Gründgens himself in the role of Mephisto – wearing the mask that had remained unchanged since the 1930s.

During this evening, we will talk about the artistic process of creating a theatre adaptation and about the central questions that Mephisto confronts us with:
What choices are still available to an artist under a totalitarian regime? And how far does an artist’s responsibility towards their own political conscience extend? Questions that also resonate personally with Maya Arad Yasur, given her critical stance towards the Israeli government.

Speakers: Maya Arad Yasur (freelance playwright and dramaturg), Bettina Baltschev (journalist and author of the book Hel en paradijs : Amsterdam en de Duitse exilliteratuur) and Belle van Heerikhuizen (director at Het Nationale Theater The Hague). Moderation: Klaus Bertisch (freelance dramaturg, director and writer) 

The registration will be open shortly.

In cooperation with Goethe-Institut Amsterdam and Theatre Studies at the University of Amsterdam