The performance begins with a story about an accident that took place during a ballet at La Scala theatre, Milan, in 1913.
Anna Akhmatova, a Russian ballet dancer, unexpectedly found herself performing a solo in complete silence, the conductor having apparently forgotten to start the music; after the dancer’s exit, the conductor started the music, playing the whole accompaniment to an empty stage.

Using this mistake to structure a new performance, Quartet is divided in four parts, each corresponding to a theatrical element: the movements, the objects, the music, and the words. The performance is repeated four times, but each time audience members only see the single element in question.

The four parts are never put together and performed as a whole; audience members find themselves assembling the show in their own minds - piecing together fragments and layers - so as to form an image of a final, “whole”, performance. A performance that may or may not exist.

Credits

Concept, choreography and text: Augusto Corrieri
Performer: Augusto Corrieri

Duration: 30 minutes

Funded by Arts Council England South East.
Developed with the Nightingale Theatre (Brighton), BAC (London),
and the B-Theatre (Birmingham). Supported by The Basement (Brighton).

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