Common Ground

Yugoslavia – a country that no longer exists. Perished in wars between brothers in the 90s. For the second time since 1914, Sarajevo was at the center of a seemingly never-ending conflict that lives on in the present. Many people fled to Berlin – on the run, in search of work, of another life. How do these Berliners experience these conflicts today? Here the children of the victims of war crimes live alongside the children of the perpetrators. How do they interact? 
Common ground is the substance we share, a foundation on which to stand. In her new project Yael Ronen brings together performers who came to Berlin from Belgrade and Sarajevo, Novi Sad and Prijedor. What is their Common Ground? The play will be developed collectively based on a trip to Bosnia, and on encounters with experts and the family members of the protagonists. The theater becomes a safe space for discussing terms like guilt and atonement, forgiveness and forgetting, while stereotypes, prejudices and conflicting narratives gleefully collide.

With English surtitles, excluding the premiere

Common Ground is sponsored by the Capital Cultural Fund Berlin.

 

Premiere: 14. März 2014

 

Watch the Trailer


Photo: Esra Rotthoff

Stage Photos: Ute Langkafel

By
Yael Ronen & Ensemble

Team

Directed by

Stage design

Costumes

Video

Music

Dramaturgy

Cast

Vernesa Berbo

Niels Bormann

Dejan Bućin

Mateja Meded

Jasmina Musić

Orit Nahmias

Aleksandar Radenković

Pressestimmen

»Mit stehenden Ovationen und einem Applaus, der nicht enden wollte, quittierte das Pfauen-Publikum am Wochenende die Aufführung von Yael Ronens Common Ground am Civil-Twilight-Festival des Schauspielhauses Zürich. Zu Recht! Der knapp zweistündige Abend des Gorki-Theaters – der ans Berliner Theatertreffen 2015 eingeladen wurde – geht einen Kantengang zwischen autobiografischem Betroffenheitstheater, selbstironischer Politcomedy und trendigem Reportagentagebuch; und er stürzt nicht ab, sondern stellt uns auf.«

Der Bund, Ked