Director Baboo composes the piece based on German dramatist Heiner Müller’s Quartett, an adaptation of the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereusesan, as an extension of his previous work, Yen-ling Hsu X Sylvia Plath. It is meant to discuss the transformation of theatrical poetry and change of scenes, and the exploration of acting talents to represent the cruel erotica and violence in aesthetics.

Heiner Müller’s script is known for its stylistic language, fragmentary and disconnected plots. Quartett is interwoven with long monologues that are fierce but poetic, and accompanied by disconnected meanings without clear indication. A cast of four characters will be played solely by one actor and one actress. “Play” and “game” are the two main actions throughout the play, and they simultaneously represent the ambiguity of characters, sexuality, and desire. Quarett, too, is an arena of love where the body/sense and the soul/reason fight their tug of war. It displays a symptom of sickness only to be seen in passion and desire.

Thru the four roles played by the two actors and their engagement in sex, we verge on the confusions generated in between multi-orgasms and post-sex blues. The two characters on the stage are coconspirators, lovers, enemies and individualists who depend closely on one another. Also they symbolize the aesthetics of a lone island existing in the compressed space of a relationship. A rope is seen to ties the two tight together, with such diverse senses as suspicion, rapture, madness, pleasure and sadness afloat around. Torture and possessiveness also find their roots deep in the relationship of the two. We then come to realize, after experiencing the pangs, the existential conditions of LOVE.