Empathy
for the devil
Costume Design
«Good can be radical; evil can never be radical, it can only be extreme, for it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension yet - and this is its horror -
it can spread like a fungus over the surface of the earth and lay waste the entire world. Evil comes from a failure to think.»
Hannah Arendt
«All men are bad and in their badness reign.»
W. Shakespeare
NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS have developed a production that takes a look at the ambivalent relationship between the supposedly good and the supposedly evil. With «Empathy for the Devil», the role of the force personified in the devil is thematized, which according to Goethe «always wants evil and always creates good».
In this staged concert, an almost unmanageable abundance of diabolic material in literature and music was sHifted through and set in illuminating contrasts. Classical material and pop songs that refer to the diabolic and the attraction of evil are processed in their own arrangements.
Benjamin Britten meets Jeff Buckley, Peter Tchaikovsky meets David Bowie, and George Frideric Handel meets the Beatles.
And of course, Charles Gounod’s seductive «Golden Calf» is joined by the demonic Samiel from Carl Maria von Weber’s opera «Der Freischütz», whose premiere anniversary provided the external occasion for «Empathy for the Devil». In the course of the research, many facets of evil were uncovered and discovered in the foreign face as in one’s own reflection.
Artistic Direction by Nicola Hümpel
Musical Direction by Tobias Weber
Musical Consultation by Jonathan Stockhammer
Project Description by NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS
Music and Performances by Nikolay Borchev, Anna-Doris Capitelli, Ted Schmitz, Florian Graul, Martin Clausen, Matan Porat, Tobias Weber, Jonathan Stockhammer, Milena Wilke, Paul Hübner, Philipp Kullen
Stage Design by Oliver Proske
Stage Design Assistance by Sonja Winkler
Light Design by Andreas Fuchs
Video by Hendrik Fritze, Sophie Krause
Dramaturgy by Andreas Hilliger
Artistic Collaboration by Max Koch
Costumes by Nicola Hümpel
Costume Assistance by Marie Akoury, Anna Lechner
Production Management by Talea Nuxoll, Raphael Reher, Leonie Schirra
Venue by Radialsystem Berlin
Photography by Falk Wenzel, Dieter Hartwig, Marie Akoury
Empathy
for the devil
Costume Design
«Good can be radical; evil can never be radical, it can only be extreme, for it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension yet - and this is its horror - it can spread like a fungus over the surface of the earth and lay waste the entire world. Evil comes from a failure to think.»
Hannah Arendt
«All men are bad and in their badness reign.»
W. Shakespeare
NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS have developed a production that takes a look at the ambivalent relationship between the supposedly good and the supposedly evil. With «Empathy for the Devil», the role of the force personified in the devil is thematized, which according to Goethe «always wants evil and always creates good».
In this staged concert, an almost unmanageable abundance of diabolic material in literature and music was sHifted through and set in illuminating contrasts. Classical material and pop songs that refer to the diabolic and the attraction of evil are processed in their own arrangements.
Benjamin Britten meets Jeff Buckley, Peter Tchaikovsky meets David Bowie, and George Frideric Handel meets the Beatles.
And of course, Charles Gounod’s seductive «Golden Calf» is joined by the demonic Samiel from Carl Maria von Weber’s opera «Der Freischütz», whose premiere anniversary provided the external occasion for «Empathy for the Devil». In the course of the research, many facets of evil were uncovered and discovered in the foreign face as in one’s own reflection.
Artistic Direction by Nicola Hümpel
Musical Direction by Tobias Weber
Musical Consultation by Jonathan Stockhammer
Project Description by NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS
Music and Performances by Nikolay Borchev, Anna-Doris Capitelli, Ted Schmitz, Florian Graul, Martin Clausen, Matan Porat, Tobias Weber, Jonathan Stockhammer, Milena Wilke, Paul Hübner, Philipp Kullen
Stage Design by Oliver Proske
Stage Design Assistance by Sonja Winkler
Light Design by Andreas Fuchs
Video by Hendrik Fritze, Sophie Krause
Dramaturgy by Andreas Hilliger
Artistic Collaboration by Max Koch
Costumes by Nicola Hümpel
Costume Assistance by Marie Akoury, Anna Lechner
Production Management by Talea Nuxoll, Raphael Reher, Leonie Schirra
Venue by Radialsystem Berlin
Photography by Falk Wenzel, Dieter Hartwig, Marie Akoury
