Anyone who wants to allude to the current political situation in the Middle East in Hebrew or Arabic speaks simply of »The Situation«. Over the past several years many people with roots in »The Situation« have ended up in Berlin, of all places, on their search for a new beginning. Approximately 30,000 Israelis have moved to the former »capital of the perpetrators«, an estimated 5,000 Syrians. Many of them live in Kreuzkölln, next door to long-established German Palestinians and Lebanese. Their families mostly didn't »move« fled here. What was previously separated by social and physical walls develops into a new Middle East in Berlin.
In her new devised piece, Yael Ronen and the participating actors, whose biographies are intertwined with the conflict in the Middle East, grapple with these paradoxical re-encounters with the »neighbours«. They are all connected by the fact that they recently came to Berlin because the reality in their countries offers little hope for a peaceful future. But as much as the desire to escape from »The Situation« unites them, the motivations for moving are different: war has been raging in Syria since 2011, and in Israel and Palestine the political and social climate has become increasingly militant. Rents in Tel Aviv are exploding and life is no longer affordable for those with an average income. Any attempt to criticise the policy of occupation and governmental positions is either ridiculed or branded as a betrayal. Over 1.7 million people in Israel belong to the Palestinian minority, but discrimination against them creates little opportunity for social participation. And in the West Bank, a fourth generation is now growing up under occupation.
The Situation dusts off the confused road map of the Middle East. The sand that trickles down tells stories of dispossession, disbelief and anger, but also of the search for a life beyond the wars in Berlin.
In English, German, Hebrew and Arabic and with German and English surtitles.
The Situation has been invited to the Theatertreffen 2016 in Berlin.
