Kain, Wenn & Aber

Nico and the Navigators at the Sophiensaele Decision-making weakness rarely looks so perfectly formed: Nico and the Navigators, who in their new production "Cain, If & But" deal with the dilemma of making decisions in various situations in life - and in the usual loose sequence of scenes - sit out their decisions in the tastefully designed gray stage semicircle (Oliver Proske). The duty to make decisions and the tendency to fatalism are discussed in costumes of exactly matching colors. A daily horoscope reading is followed by a dance interlude prevented at the highest level. And even when a man rails against all attempts to explain the world, from psychology to astrology, or a woman passionately lashes out at a colleague blessed with such a mature lack of decision-making that even a yes to self-defense overwhelms him, all the sequences are arranged with a sense of form. After all, Nicola Hümpel's troupe, founded in 1998 at the Bauhaus Dessau, is known for its wonderfully light-handed stylized theater. And with this, they are - rightly - successful - after all, this is one of the rare cases in which the formula of one's own theater language really applies, regardless of all fashions. However, after five years, the improvisational spirit of the perfectly attuned navigators sometimes seems to get the better of them: Between very precise, unerring decisions and indecisions, the one or other passage generously emancipating itself from theme and audience has to be bridged. With a cast gifted with such a fine nerve for the absurd, this is not uncharming to watch, but nevertheless results in slight signs of fatigue. In this respect, it is a good decision for the Navigators to set out for new inspirational shores: "Kain, Wenn & Aber" is the last production with this cast for the time being. Next, Nico will realize an international project.

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