Ein Volksbürger

Screening of Ein Volksbürger, a production by Nico and the Navigators nominated for the Berlin Theatertreffen and the Friedrich Luft Prize.

Followed by a talk with director Nicola Hümpel and constitutional lawyer Maximilian Steinbeis. The talk will be moderated by Christiane Hoffmann, who served as the First Deputy Spokesperson of the German Federal Government and Deputy Head of the Federal Press Office from 2022 to 2025.

With the political farce Ein Volksbürger, Nico and the Navigators have created a production based on research by the Verfassungsblog, led by Maximilian Steinbeis. Premiering in 2024 at the House of the Federal Press Conference (Haus der Bundespressekonferenz) with Fabian Hinrichs in the lead role, the production was nominated in 2025 for both the Berlin Theatertreffen and the Friedrich Luft Prize. The play tells the story of the rise of a populist Minister-President whose pursuit of power steadily erodes democratic institutions, culminating in a constitutional showdown. In the politically charged election year of 2026, the work has taken on renewed urgency.

Following the screening, director Nicola Hümpel and author Maximilian Steinbeis will discuss with the audience the relationship between theatre, politics, and social reality.

Nicola Hümpel is a director and co-founder of Nico and the Navigators. Since 1998, she has created internationally presented music theatre works at the intersection of music, theatre, and media. Her work has received numerous awards, including the George Tabori Prize and the Konrad Wolf Prize.

Maximilian Steinbeis is a lawyer, journalist, and founder of the Verfassungsblog, an internationally renowned platform for debates on constitutional and legal policy. His work focuses on democracy, the rule of law, and authoritarian threats. Together with Nico and the Navigators, he developed the text for A Citizen of the People.