Picture theater thematizes the heaviness of being

What sounds like the name of a pop band is in fact a young theater troupe from Berlin, but at the moment they are being celebrated like little stars all over Europe. "Nico and the Navigators" are different from the rest of the theater troupe, because they take up the spirit of the times without general lamentation. Their new program, with which they visited Moscow on the occasion of the Berlin Days, is called "Cain, if and but" - the title alone sends cold shivers down the spine. The biblical Cain, the one who slew his brother in anger, is immediately present in the mind. The question arises: who is held responsible for what in the play and why? Against this background, it is also frightening that contemporary theater today can hardly do without elaborate video projections, vulgar shouting and obscene gestures. What is offered, however, is something different. Although the neuroses of contemporary homo sapiens are also addressed here, this is done with humor and the courage to create paradoxes. The core question of "Cain, if and but" deals with the topic of decision - its burden and pleasure. Quote: "The first decision: to myself - courageously - alone", this is how the piece begins and introduces the basic tenor. "Nico and the Navigators" illuminate the unfathomable paths of decision, its parameters and above all its (in)freedom. Scenically simple, these existential questions are brought to the stage in a very minimalist way. The decorations and props are small but fine, a large part of the effect is created by lighting effects. But the play lives especially from the brilliant actors, who become true mimic and physical acrobats. The masterpiece, however, lies in the wordplay, which at times rises to the absurd. "Who actually determines here, who determines? We determine a determiner, who then determines all of us, and that's certainly the solution, then it's certainly right." Without exaggeration, one can indeed speak of new German theater - of contemporary, creative theater that reflects the conflict of the manic-depressive present with a twinkling eye. And that is certainly true!

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