“Kain, Wenn & Aber”

Nico & the Navigators" are considered Berlin's best off-theatre troupe, and with their new play "Cain, If & But" in the Sophiensälen, the artists may not quite live up to this predicate, but they happily confirm their class in terms of lightness and bizarreness. Living up to their name in the literal sense of the word, the Navigators have launched themselves into the infinite expanses of space. Aboard a space station, they design a life experiment that seems like a cross between "Space Patrol Orion" and soul-searching. Very slowly, almost sacredly, the crew takes their places at first. The seven performers seem to be still in cold sleep. Warmth slowly seeps into the bizarrely frozen bodies. They now create mini-scenes in which they imitate the distant earthly life. The causality of life is stated, responsibility and accountability are thought about, even a will to act is demanded. Then again, the action shifts to the level of self-questioning. As members of the generation in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties - and representative of them - the ensemble faces the question of the meaning of life, of their lives. Nothing concise - in the form of instructions for action, for example - comes out of it. Should not, must not come out. After all, theater is not an advice show. But the seriousness of the self-questioning is engaging. It is wonderfully balanced with the ironic, frivolous approach that is always attributed to this generation and that has also become the hallmark of the aesthetics of Nicola Hümpel and her navigators.

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