Press reviews

Nico and the Navigators improvise freely, winding and letting go, moving with and through music. An organic, deeply human whole is created from bodies, sounds, words, gestures and dance. Performers do not disappear behind the figurativeness of a role, but come to the fore as wide-awake, vulnerable performers … Sharp-witted social analysis on the one hand and soul-searching poetry on the other: for Nico and the Navigators, this is no contradiction … Nico and the Navigators are full-body poets.

In their anniversary production, Nico and the Navigators go on a trip…The collage moves between ecstasy and dissolution of boundaries, delusion and melancholy and fuses different musical styles…Nico and the Navigators, the pioneers of a new musical theatre, still have the knack.

The award-winning troupe is known for integrating digital components into its performances. In order to further develop its artistic language, it has asked Prof. Dr.-Ing. Steffen Borchers-Tigasson from the Electrical Engineering programme at HTW Berlin for support. The expert in automation and artificial intelligence (AI) is now further developing the camera technology based on AI […] The aim is to create an intelligent camera system that automatically follows artists on stage with complete flexibility, regardless of how fast they move, and generates images that can be selected by the camera director for projection in real time. ‘The technical requirements are high.’

The piece: a collage of emotional states, expressed through the images that dance, song, theatre, video and, again and again, carefully dosed words create on stage. Despite constant breaks in the music, the five musicians tie everything together organically and are themselves constantly involved in the play. Dancing themselves into a frenzy, then writhing as a tortured creature, coming together in a group or throwing themselves at each other in a frenzy of blood. Or all alone, desperate. The pianist at the piano, he feels the piece – you can see it in his eyes, projected large on the screen … And it is these emotional sculptures of image, movement, facial expressions and music that linger … Artistic chaos as a reflection of the chaos of the world.

In general, the ensemble’s performance resembles elementary particles that always walk the fine line between ecstasy and crash. There is no turning back, only moving on. Just like in real life. In this eclectic cosmos, it comes as no surprise when Bob Dylan appears next to the mad monologue from “Die Meistersänger von Nürnberg”, belting out “Buckets of rain”. When sheet music has a fast-paced rendezvous with a wind machine or a lonely breakdance suddenly seems to capture all the sadness in the world … But what characterises the Navigators’ special signature? Making classical material permeable for today’s eyes and ears? Combining music, text and movement like a collage in such a way that the themes resonate as if by themselves? Lend even the most existential questions a bittersweet lightness? One could answer all together at this point!

Berlin world theatre and virtuoso ensemble art at its finest.