Rush of images and desires – Quartett zum Quadrat
Heiner Müller’s “Quartett” becomes a stage hurricane of sex, violence and rough language at the Radialsystem.
Between all the dances and texts, the shouting and whispering, the gongs, drums, and violins – a small scene in the background is almost overlooked: a man (Martin Buczko) and a woman (Yui Kawaguchi) enter a stairwell at the same time, one walking down a floor, the other walking up a floor, yet they never meet. They “walk” on the spot, only the virtual space rotates around them in 3D. The distance between them remains the same the whole time, no touch.
Moments like these are the strengths of this overflowing, image- and sound-intense staging of Heiner Müller’s “Quartett.” The 20-year-old troupe “Nico and the Navigators” has expanded the piece into “Quartett zum Quadrat.” The premiere audience on Thursday in the sold-out Radialsystem celebrated the ensemble – and with it the explosion of creativity that rolled over them for almost two and a half hours.
In a short introduction to the piece – which, unlike his text in the program booklet, turns out to be very accessible – dramaturg Sergio Morabito points out that a wild ride awaits the audience, literally: “an extremely stimulating experience.” Morabito speaks of rehearsals in which some “went to extremes” and in which there was a lot of laughter. “Is it slapstick?”, he asks. And: “Is there something of ‘Charley’s Aunt’ in the piece?” The answer: there is quite a bit to suggest that.
Heiner Müller’s “Quartett” premiered in Bochum in 1982, exactly 200 years after the publication of its source material: “Les Liaisons dangereuses” by Choderlos de Laclos. It is said that Müller did not finish reading the 500 pages of the original and that his piece is therefore only loosely based on the famous epistolary novel. In “Quartett zum Quadrat,” the Marquise de Merteuil (Annedore Kleist) and her ex-lover Valmont (Martin Clausen) mainly try to outdo one another in malice.
Other stagings print trigger warnings and age recommendations in their program booklets solely because of Müller’s text – after all, suicide, rape and fecal sex are brought to the stage in quite graphic fashion. In “Quartett zum Quadrat,” the harsh texts are delivered with precision and in all their rawness. He: “You see the parade of young asses that confront us daily with our transience.” She: “You know well that one man is one man too few for a woman.”
Annedore Kleist and Martin Clausen are the stars of this evening, switching genders, costumes, and moods faster than any drag queen. Rarely has anyone stuffed a lipstick into its tube more suggestively than Kleist – and Clausen does not playthe dying girl onstage, he is the dying girl. “Quartett zum Quadrat” is a material battle using every means of modern theatre: acting, video, dance, music, and a text that, in light of Epstein files and TikTok suicides, could not be more current.
The Radialsystem trusts its audience and demands a lot of them – for example, a cleverly assembled maxi-mirror on stage around which everyone dances and which opens up what feels like a fifth layer. Is it too much? This was the main subject of conversations in the queue at the exit. Some felt overwhelmed, while the younger members of the audience (clearly a minority at the premiere) felt seen. String players dancing around actors on stage? More of it! Shortly before the intermission, this debate seemed to be anticipated onstage. He (she): “I could almost get used to being a woman.” She (he): “I do not think I ever will.”
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