Wo Du nicht bist - Press

Perhaps due to plain enchantment we have not understood: The beautiful and the daring that we were able to see in the united city (whether from here or imported), came to be through the interplay of the Arts. Some examples: Christoph Marthaler with “Murx den Europäer ab”, Alain Platel’s “Iets op Bach” (…). In “D‘avant” two dancers from Sasha Waltz’ Berlin troupe join with Alain Platel’s Gent Troupe to make a piece where the only sound consists of the marvellous a cappella singing of the four...

„the stars of the Off-Theatre scene prove to be absolutely virtuosic“

...It all unfolds in the rapid interplay between slapstick and pose, wild frolic and sad pauses - surprising changes of mood create the comic effect. The spectator does not come away scot-free: lines like "You work and work only because you lack the talent for happiness” certainly can be painful. Happiness is thus not liveable. Because we strive for the big happiness we often disregard the little ones. Sometimes an evening in the theatre counts among the latter. This one should not be passed...

... God has kissed this troupe on the forehead. (…) “There where you are not, that’s where you’ll find happiness”. The eight actors ponder this in German, English and French, and thus develop, thoughtfully, playfully, flippantly and comically, out their own personalities, a happy, brave yet humble, exceptional kind of theatre. There are no assertions, no demands, only a marvelling, inquisitive probing of the self and the world. (…) What has here arisen by means of Nicola Hümpel’s direction, of...

This is the biggest project that the Navigators have so far navigated – and it is a triumph! Together with the marvellous Tirolean group Franui they have developed a piece about happiness, and Franz Schubert, the Great Misery himself, is godfather.(…) “You work and work because you lack the talent for happiness” someone says on one occasion, and immediately you feel caught. This is a serious piece, but there are wonderful moments of freedom and yes even joy as when someone springs stark naked...

...Für Nicola Hümpel ist Schubert ein lieber Freund. "Schuberts Musik ist die Verschmelzung von Glück und Unglück, der undefinierte Zustand im Jetzt."... Dass nun Schubert schließlich zum expliziten Thema der Navigators wurde, liegt darin, dass Nico irgendwann zwangsläufig dessen Herumgeistern beenden musste und ihn explizit aufnehmen musste in ihren eigenen Diskurs von der Zerschredderung des Ichs, der fragilen Möglichkeit von Sehnsucht und der Frage, wie die äußere und die innere Welt...

...Die Darsteller des Ensembles Nico and the Navigators in „Wo du nicht bist“, dem Eröffnungsstück des TeatroDue-Festivals in Parma, bewegen sich genau aufeinander abgestimmt, um sich in fragmentarischen Aktionen – möglichen Geschichten, Bindungen und neuen Dimensionen – voneinander zu lösen...

Eight performers, convincing as actors, dancers, pantomime artists and singers, go on a “quest for the where, the how and the nature of happiness“, to the tune of Schubert Lieder, part as original, part estranged... There are little excursions, textual and acrobatic, into Grand Guignol, Kabuki and the Circus. Happiness can be attained through the munching of an apple just as by dipping into a book. The eyes and ears of the public are constantly engaged.

...Die Uraufführung von ‚Wo Du nicht bist’ der Berliner Kult-Theaterformation‚ Nico and the Navigators bescherte...einen wunderbaren Abend, der abseits von konventionellem Erzähltheater ein Feuerwerk an schauspielerischen Sternschnuppen in den Theaterhimmel zauberte... In freien Assoziationsschüben wird szenisch über das Glück nachgedacht. Dafür werden Glück-Auffassungen von Aristoteles (Glück ist Tugend) bis Albert Camus (Das Selbst muss sein Glück finden) zitiert. Die tatsächliche...

...Her theatre is political, poetic, wondrous, her Berlin troupe a gathering of physical-theatre creatures behaving in typical capital city manner... Though it all revolves round death, at end it is by no means depressing - touchingly beautiful rather. A violin plays the melody from “Abschied“ (Farewell) and sounds like a superhuman voice afloat.