For the new coproduction with Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Guy Cassiers is tackling the almost one-thousand-page novel Les bienveillantes by Jonathan Littell (translated into English as The Kindly Ones and into Dutch as De Welwillenden) about the annihilation of the Jews during the Second World War.   

The production is part of a European project for which Toneelhuis has received the support of the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme - Culture. In 2016 De welwillenden will travel to (among other places) Valenciennes (Le Phénix), Istanbul (Istanbul Theatre Festival), Rome (RomaEuropa festival) and Girona (Festival Temporada Alta) and in 2017 to Amiens (Maison de la Culture d’Amiens). There will also be a long-read, a rich multimedia website providing the audience with in-depth information about the stage adaptation of the book. Furthermore, local educational initiatives will be mounted in conjunction with the European partners.     

For Le Phénix Scène Nationale de Valenciennes’ presentation of its programme for the new season, Guy Cassiers recorded this video message for the audience in Valenciennes.