http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/quadrat/images/2/

 Samuel Beckett
«Quad I + II» ‘Quad’, the first in a series of minimalist experimental television plays made by Beckett in the 1980s for the broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk, operates with a serial game involving the motional pattern of four actors, but equally accommodating four soloists, six duos, and four trios. Four actors, whose coloured hoods make them identifiable yet anonymous, accomplish a relentless closed-circuit drama. Once inside the square, they are condemned to monotonously and synchronously pace the respectively six steps of the lengthwise and diagonal lines it contains, in part accompanied by varying drumbeat rhythms. The mathematical precision and choreography is made possible by the exactness of the timing. Choreographic variation is confined to the number of performers, and the resultant changes in colour constellations. The middle of the square, which is marked by a dot, must always be bypassed on the left-hand side. In the course of the production, the feet leave behind faint traces on the diagonals of the white square. ‘Quad’ (here you see the first version) is, for all its reducedness, the most dramatic of Beckett’s last teleplays. The playwright also shot a black-and-white version with four figures dressed identically in white and acting to the beat of a metronome.

extracts from the world premiere performance january 2005 
idea, concept & visual direction Alexander Arotin, 
artistic collaboration Serghei Victor, music Olga Neuwirth
with Frank Asmus, Hans Christian Rudolph, Karl Merkatz, Sebastian Mirow, Philipp Sebastian
production Dietmar Pflegerl Stadttheater Klagenfurt Austria 2005
© AROTIN ART CREATIONS PARIS BERLIN 2006

… an optical and dramaturgic success! die Presse, Vienna

…the fascination of absolute nothingness… Kronenzeitung, Vienna

Arotin succeeded in making visible for the spectator the “non-lieu”, orchestrated by Beckett. die Presse, Vienna

“… It depends, how one does nothing” says Beckett in his play 
– Well done, how “nothing” was performed here! 

…overwhelming astonishing sceneries and images of Alexander Arotin… 
a tension that sweeps you away from the first to the last word. 
Impossible to visualize better Samuel Beckett on stage! Kärntner Tageszeitung

… Alexander Arotin’s captivating spaces and lights 
with a completely tilted scene… der Standard, Vienna

In the cosmos of the absurdity 

… an exciting panorama which catches the attention from the very first moment. Through the image of a road in a continuous motion one enters the illusion as if it was the whole life which rushes through, while mankind is waiting senseless and motionless on the outside. Kleine Zeitung, Vienna

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXmdTUfsfmI]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idTcsU03W1Y]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTLH4TUZnpo]

http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/quadrat/images/2/

 Samuel Beckett
«Quad I + II»

‘Quad’, the first in a series of minimalist experimental television plays made by Beckett in the 1980s for the broadcaster Süddeutscher Rundfunk, operates with a serial game involving the motional pattern of four actors, but equally accommodating four soloists, six duos, and four trios. Four actors, whose coloured hoods make them identifiable yet anonymous, accomplish a relentless closed-circuit drama. Once inside the square, they are condemned to monotonously and synchronously pace the respectively six steps of the lengthwise and diagonal lines it contains, in part accompanied by varying drumbeat rhythms. The mathematical precision and choreography is made possible by the exactness of the timing. Choreographic variation is confined to the number of performers, and the resultant changes in colour constellations. The middle of the square, which is marked by a dot, must always be bypassed on the left-hand side. In the course of the production, the feet leave behind faint traces on the diagonals of the white square. ‘Quad’ (here you see the first version) is, for all its reducedness, the most dramatic of Beckett’s last teleplays. The playwright also shot a black-and-white version with four figures dressed identically in white and acting to the beat of a metronome.

Rudolf Frieling

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_LG1C4lPFw]
extracts from the world premiere performance january 2005 
idea, concept & visual direction Alexander Arotin, 
artistic collaboration Serghei Victor, music Olga Neuwirth
with Frank Asmus, Hans Christian Rudolph, Karl Merkatz, Sebastian Mirow, Philipp Sebastian
production Dietmar Pflegerl Stadttheater Klagenfurt Austria 2005
© AROTIN ART CREATIONS PARIS BERLIN 2006


… an optical and dramaturgic success! die Presse, Vienna

…the fascination of absolute nothingness… Kronenzeitung, Vienna

Arotin succeeded in making visible for the spectator the “non-lieu”, orchestrated by Beckett. die Presse, Vienna

“… It depends, how one does nothing” says Beckett in his play 
– Well done, how “nothing” was performed here! 

…overwhelming astonishing sceneries and images of Alexander Arotin… 
a tension that sweeps you away from the first to the last word. 
Impossible to visualize better Samuel Beckett on stage! Kärntner Tageszeitung

… Alexander Arotin’s captivating spaces and lights 
with a completely tilted scene… der Standard, Vienna

In the cosmos of the absurdity 

… an exciting panorama which catches the attention from the very first moment. Through the image of a road in a continuous motion one enters the illusion as if it was the whole life which rushes through, while mankind is waiting senseless and motionless on the outside. Kleine Zeitung, Vienna

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbZjFa3H0As]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4LDwfKxr-M]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DmqbQas460]