Pure despair — that is what Heiner Müller’s drama “Quartett” is about. The attempt to numb existential emptiness with cynicism and habitual greed is at an all-time high. Müller, who died 30 years ago in Berlin, arranged his “Quartett” (based on the epistolary novel “Gefährliche Liebschaften” by Choderlos de Laclos from 1782) in a space ranging from a “Salon vor der französischen Revolution” to a “Bunker nach dem 3. Weltkrieg”.

Cruel exposure

An endgame of civilisation, in which the two acting figures (who exchange roles and also embody two additional characters) strip themselves bare to recognisability — cruel and comic. Material of a Shakespearean cut. And what a magnificent evening Nicola Hümpel (concept and direction), Oliver Proske (set and video), and dramaturg Sergio Morabito have crafted from it. “Quartett zum Quadrat” is the title of their interpretation of Müller’s text. The team confronts it onstage with the emotional string quartets of Leoš Janáček (performed live by the Kuss Quartet), jazz by Paul Hübner (trumpet, sounds) and Lorenzo Riessler (percussion), and the furious dance of Martin Buczko and Yui Kawaguchi.

Nico & The Navigators were founded in 1998 by Nicola Hümpel and her partner Oliver Proske at the Bauhaus Dessau. Based in Berlin since 1999, they have developed an internationally acclaimed form of music theatre defined by an exciting collaboration of language, music, and choreographic interventions.

Brilliant performers

In the current production, which has now premiered at Radialsystem Berlin, Annedore Kleist (Merteuil) and Martin Clausen (Valmont) indeed carry the largest burden. They succeed brilliantly: they embody two undead beings for whom intimacy holds no secret and no dignity. Pleasure becomes an end in itself, a way to escape the horror of facing themselves. Their hunger for power turns them into perpetrator and perpetrator of two women, one of whom (played by Martin Clausen, the actor portraying Valmont) will die.

A very powerful evening.

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