We have decided to postpone the performance of THE SITUATION scheduled for October 23rd. This production directed by Yael Ronen was created in 2015. Today the »situation« includes the war. We recognize our powerlessness. We are affected. But in war, there are also those who are hit. We must make that clear to ourselves. We must find positions and languages for that.

War is a great simplifier. The terrorist organisation Hamas’ attack on Israel puts us on Israel’s side. Hamas has taken innocent Israeli civilians as hostages, and the Palestinian civilian population, already battered by years of human rights violations, is also held hostage by Hamas. They use them as human shields for their rocket launches. Israel’s latest answer to this affects all Palestinians and will drive them further into the arms of Hamas. But Israel must also defend itself. War demands a simple division into friend and enemy. It will not solve problems. It thrives on escalation. Now Hamas is calling for attacks on Jewish institutions in Germany. That puts us on the side of all Jewish people in Germany.

Theatre thrives on the polyphony of multiple voices. On debate, on conflict. But it can do little with the great simplifiers. Sibylle Berg, one of our authors, writes that the shock about this now one-week-old war will, at some point, be eclipsed by a new shock about new atrocities. Last Saturday – in the midst of the 6. Berliner Herbstsalon LOST’s work on old wars, from those on the land of the former Yugoslavia to that in Ukraine – the rockets of Hamas exploded. Our debates about the old wars do not help us with this new one, casting doubt on the purpose of our efforts. Perhaps doubts are good, but we must guard ourselves against despair. It immobilises. This still holds true: only for the sake of the hopeless have we been given hope.

Shermin Langhoff (Artistic Director) and Johannes Kirsten (Head Dramaturge) on 13/Oktober 2023

Director’s note

Feeling crushed and heartbroken by the devastating cycle of violence we are trapped in. Standing now on the edge of the abyss, looking down.
I still want to hold on to a vision of hope, peace, freedom and justice for ALL.
 
This show The Situation represents who we were almost 9 years ago when it was written and the way I understood reality then. Since Saturday reality has been shaken to its core. 
And while the horrors are still unfolding, I need a moment to fall apart, disintegrate.
Allow grief and rage. 
And pray for the end of this endless cycle of violence. 
They say comedy is tragedy plus time. 
We need time.
Hoping that out of this dark moment, a seed for a new vision of hope will emerge.
And that we can find comfort in the loving arms of comedy.

Yael Ronen on 15/October 2023