Frank Castorf Stages Klaus Mann's Mephisto at Berliner Ensemble, Exposing Gustaf Gründgens as Nazi Profiteer

Frank Castorf directs an unsparing production of Klaus Mann's novel Mephisto at the Berliner Ensemble, with Jens Harzer in the lead role. The novel's protagonist Hendrik Höfgen is a thinly veiled portrait of actor Gustaf Gründgens, who became a stage darling first in the Weimar Republic, then during National Socialism, and enjoyed unbroken success in West Germany after 1945. Gründgens, once married to Erika Mann, ensured that his ex-brother-in-law's critical novel remained banned. In a present where the term "Rechtsruck" no longer captures the outward-facing political shift, theaters are revisiting Mephisto. The production confronts a very German dilemma: theaters that traditionally stood at the critical resistance front now grapple with this legacy. The Freitag article by Eva Marburg reviews the staging, which shows Gründgens as a self-absorbed profiteer of the Nazi regime. The full text is available in the current issue of Freitag.