NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS were founded in 1998 by Nicola Hümpel and Oliver Proske at the Bauhaus Dessau and celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2023. After a period at the Sophiensæle in Berlin, they have been continuously represented here since the opening of the Radialsystem in 2006. Their visually powerful style attracted international attention early on. With projects on Schubert, Handel, Bach, Rossini, Mahler and contemporary music, they are one of the most important music theatre ensembles in Europe. The productions have toured the world with over 360 guest performances and have appeared at renowned opera houses, theatres and festivals.
Artistic direction
Nicola Hümpel completed her studies at the HfBK in Hamburg. Since founding NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS, she has been responsible for the concepts and direction of all productions. Her productions have been shown at renowned festivals, including the Wiener Festwochen, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele and the Munich Biennale. She has worked at major theatres such as the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Stuttgart State Opera, the Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin and the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. She teaches the ‘guided improvisation’ method she developed at numerous drama and music colleges in Germany and abroad.
Management & Stage Design
Oliver Proske studied industrial design at the HfBK Hamburg under Prof Dieter Rams and at the HdK Berlin. He has designed more than 20 stage sets for NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS and is also the company’s managing director. He has also been the technical director of more than 350 guest performances in over 60 cities. In addition to his work as a stage designer, he also works as a designer – including for the Bauhaus Museum in Dessau. He has been developing a digital division for the ensemble since 2019, and the AR dance production ‘Du musst Dein Leben rendern!’ was nominated for the AUREA Award in 2022.
VIDEO
PRESSESTIMMEN
‘Nico and the Navigators are full-body poets.’
Opernwelt, Anna Schors, 24.11.23
‘Dissolution of boundaries, madness and melancholy and a fusion of different musical styles … Nico and the Navigators, the pioneers of a new musical theatre, still have the knack.’
ARTE Journal, Sandra Luzina, 16.12.2023
‘Music and theatre and dance and performance, the stage works of Nico and the Navigators are usually visually rich and thought-provoking productions in which everything flows into one another. You’re amazed and get smart by watching.’
RBB, Frauke Thiele
PROJECTS 2026/27 – A SELECTION
Upon request
The whole Truth about Lies
Music theatre about self-deception, heteronomy, white lies and fallacies
What is the whole truth about lies? Where can it be found and what is revealed when it is exposed? In this era of artificial intelligence and social networks, whoever searches for the truth about lies will often find it residing in the paradoxical – or in the theatre.
Between baroque and pop, and song, dance and text, the NAVIGATORS search for the ‘Whole Truth about Lies’. They combine the old 19th-century theatrical illusion ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ with current AI technology, blurring the boundaries between real bodies and fake images. The horizontal tilts into the vertical and avatars dance with their humans. Perhaps the truth about lies is situated somewhere in the middle – between ‘Gimme some Truth’ and ‘Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies’.
Cast:
BY AND WITH: Peyee Chen (soprano), Andrew Munn (bass), Yui Kawaguchi (dance & choreography), Martin Buczko (dance & choreography), Florian Graul (dance & choreography), Annedore Kleist (acting), Patric Schott (acting), Anne-Sophie Bereuter (violin), Mathis Bereuter (piano & keyboard), Jo Ambros (electric guitar & guitar), Paul Hübner (trumpet), Lucas Johnson (drums & effects & synthesiser)
Artistic direction, stage direction: Nicola Hümpel | Musical direction: Paul Hübner | Musical consultant: Tobias Weber | Stage, technical direction: Oliver Proske | Lighting: Torsten Podraza | Video: Diego Muhr, Robin Plenio Costume: Belinda Masur, Nicola Hümpel, Marie Akoury | Dramaturgy: Andreas Hillger | Choreographic direction: Yui Kawaguchi | Sound: Sebastian Reuter | Artistic assistance: Talea Nuxoll | Set design assistance: Sonja Winkler | Production: Franziska K. Huhn, Leonie Schirra, Talea Nuxoll
A production by NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS and the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and with funds from the Hauptstadt Kultur Fonds. In co-operation with the Radialsystem.
‘Based on the seductive and fatal fascination of the false, the ensemble searches for evidence of self-deception and heteronomy, white lies and fallacies in the dark depths of classical heritage as well as on the glittering surface of contemporary music.’
Klassik heute
