Tirana’s Experimental Theater opened this year with a quite daring act titled “Hello, I am Mephisto”.

The plot revolves around Goethe’s Faust but shifts away from the classic two-act play. The screenplay combines passages from Goethe’s Faust, Klaus Mann’s Mephisto, and a poem by Albanian poet Musine Kokalari who was sentenced to 25 years in jail during the communist regime and died as a recluse.

All these elements are interconnected in the message conveyed to the public, the mephistophelian pact made by Faust and his deal with the devil over short-lived interests.

Screenwriters Klaudia Piroli and Jeton Neziraj made sure to adapt the passage in today’s context. Neziraj has an important role in the Theater of Kosovo and further in the region, known for bringing innovation through his scripts.

Beyond all the glitter, colorful lights hitting the stage, and the audacity of the screenplay, the act also brought a breakthrough outlook on Albania’s dictatorial past.

It appears that the play dared to present what the Albanian public had been missing for some time, exposing the dark truths of the unscrupulous regime of Enver Hoxha.