Students Bring Quartett’s Sinister Eroticism
to Life
BY
CHANNING JOSEPH
This weekend, Heiner
Müller’s Quartett continues performances in Fairchild Chapel, fittingly
celebrating Friday the 13th with a presentation of dark humor and sadistic
obsession. Opening yesterday and scheduled to close with a Saturday
matinee, Carl Weber’s English translation of Quartett was directed by
sophomore Ben Stuber and assistant- directed by sophomore Rachel Samberg,
in the tradition of Müller’s German experimental theater.
(photo by Steve
Freed) |
Based on the 18th century French novel by
Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the play was a one-hour
glimpse into the lives of French aristocrats Valmont and Merteuil, as they
sardonically displayed the bitterness and lust they felt for one another
while discussing both sinister and erotic fantasies.
The play
benefited and suffered from being performed in Fairchild Chapel, as the
building’s stone walls and stained glass windows added to the production’s
moody, gothic feel. Unfortunately, the chapel’s intensely echoing
acoustics rendered many of the actors’ words incomprehensible.
The
atmosphere of the production was reminiscent of an Anne Rice vampire
novel, as suggested by lines like, “Every word rips a gash, every smile
bares a fang.” Yet the actors’ costumes and make-up also contributed to a
Halloween theme with performers wearing black, formless drapes, stylized
masks, face paint and Merteuil displaying a silver
corset.
The set was one of the highlights of the production,
along with the costumes. It consisted of an altar draped in white cloth at
the stage’s rear, on top of which stood a life-size mannequin with spikes
in its hands, alluding to the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ.
Stuber’s interpretation of the play incorporated
choreographed movement, mask and the presence of three demon figures —
Lamia, played by sophomore Lily Matini, Asmodeus, played by sophomore Matt
Franks and Mara, played by first-year Maya
Ray-Schoenfeld.
Throughout the play, the demons danced about the
actors, suggesting the inevitable damnation of Valmont and Merteuil for
their cold, scheming ways. Sometimes, their presence seemed distracting
and superfluous, at other times, they created memorable moments, such as
the opening scene, where they writhed sensuously with Merteuil until she
reached the peak of excitement, screaming, “The agony to live and not be
God.”
Merteuil, played by sophomore Allison Moon, was a delight to
watch, as she portrayed the sensuous temptress with a refreshing emotional
sincerity, which in other actors might have been outdone by a desire to
play a melodramatic caricature of the cold-hearted villainess. Her
skillful use of tempting glances and teasing gestures easily seduced
Valmont, as well as the audience.
Valmont, played by junior Adam
Marvel, displayed a more mercurial nature. At times, Marvel’s performance
suggested a clown or harlequin, dancing about Merteuil with humorous
ripostes like, “I shall open my veins…with scissors since I am a woman.
Every trade has its jokes.” At other times, he took a more authoritative
stance, as when he forced Merteuil to perform fellatio on him. In either
case, the mercuriality in his character seemed appropriate, as Valmont and
Merteuil often pretended to switch identities in the play. Ultimately, the
highlight of the play’s acting was Moon’s and Marvel’s willingness to be
emotionally vulnerable on stage, without which this play might have become
a cartoon.
In the end, Quartett left the audience member with more
questions than answers. In the show’s programs, Stuber wrote, “My advice
is to embrace Quartett for what it is. One is not supposed to grasp every
ambiguity or [learn] any prepackaged lesson.” At a later point, he said
that his intention was to let “the work speak for itself, because that’s
all the audience is going to see anyway.”