There are parts of Neukölln where the patois of Hebrew and Arabic might make you think you’re in Tel Aviv. Delve in at the ID Festival at Radialsystem V: the annual festival showcasing German artists with an Israeli background. Of which there are many.
The word on everyone’s lips: migration! Still, it seems more than a little tone-deaf to make this the theme of a festival by and about Israelis. One of the few pieces which tackles the theme explicitly is Makembo!, an adaptation of the Joseph story “drawing on classical rabbinic exegesis” not only featuring a bunch of Nazi references but with an abused African refugee as the lead character. We’d say it’s a little on the nose, except that it sounds like an absolute mess.
The more abstract end of the program looks better, like the visual-art-inspired dance theatre piece Dancing to the End by the group Total Brutal. Or No Mad, which places a trombonist and a dancer into surreal situations both in film projections and on stage. The chamber music performances, at the very least, won’t offend.
ID Festival Oct 21-23 Radialsystem V, Friedrichshain
