The secret fear of the femme fatale

NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS are always quite despondent contemporaries. Heroes of comical and courageous failure. When they face their own fears in their seventh production "Helden & Kleinmut" (Heroes & Pusillanimity), it is a guaranteed unheroic undertaking (further performances until 16.10.). Instead, the evening in the Sophiensälen delights with surreal visual fantasy, absurd wit and strong performers. Six navigators have set out to learn to fear. Most of all, they are afraid of fear. Director Nicola Hümpel reserves the first appearance for a fearless woman, the Frenchwoman Anne Paulicevich. A femme fatale who plays with love. And in the end is afraid of herself. Apart from that, frightened and confused young men with their hair blow-dried up parade across the stage, carrying their despondency around with them like a wondrous piece of luggage. Oliver Prose's stage towers are both hiding place and trap. They swallow up the performers, only to reveal a fleeing leg to the gaze. The actual motifs lie in the dark. So the stage haunting, bathed in pastel light, is pleasurable to watch: Fear and Lilac. Miyoko Urayama hides behind her mane of black hair, transforming into a little demoness. Then, when a comb moves toward her head in slow motion, one becomes terrified. The malicious Lajos Talamonti paints a register of horrors with relish, warning of cheap airlines, reheated spinach and monster waves. The newly formed ensemble conjures up the danger in several languages. At the end, one knows how to be afraid in Japanese and to give courage in French. How reassuring!

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