Third Generation – Next Generation

Take a handful of Palestinians, pour in some Israelis, mix it up with the conflict, spice it with some guilty Germans, and what do you get? A huge European success!
Dritte Generation, 2009

Ten years ago Yael Ronen and her ensemble of Israeli, German and Palestinian actors presented the premiere of their play Dritte Generation (Third Generation) at the Schaubühne Berlin and shortly thereafter in Tel Aviv. The performances sometimes sparked heated debates: for German norms the testing of the fault lines between the actors was merciless, and it was all done with humour!

Today the state of politics in Berlin is more than reason enough to take another look at the Gordian knot between Israelis, Germans and Palestinians. Because a lot has happened in the last 10 years. Thousands of people from the Middle East have since arrived in Berlin: relocated Israelis (including Yael Ronen and some of the actors) as well as people from Arab countries. For at least the last five years, a growing German nationalism has tried to use the two groups against each other. But what is the actual relationship between the new Berliners themselves? Which conflicts did they bring with them, which only came up here? And what does that all have to do with the raison d’état »never again«? The Next Generation takes its perspectives into an encounter with the Third Generation. Together they investigate ideas for the future in the context of a new situation, in which Germans believe they can remove their feelings of guilt like a denim jacket that’s gotten too small, while anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim racism increase »freed of taboos«.

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Premiere: March 9th, 2019


Photo: Esra Rotthoff

Aufführungsrechte: Yael Ronen
Gefördert durch die Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa