Details

Published 75 years ago, Four Quartets is considered the crowning achievement of TS Eliot's career as a poet. Today three visionaries respond to the cycle in a ravishing union of dance, music and art. Celebrated New York-based choreographer Pam Tanowitz taps into Eliot's four-part poem, a mysterious meditation on past and present, time and space, movement and stillness, replete with images of dance. Her ten-strong ensemble moves lavishly through glorious solos and duets to a beguiling score by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho played live, while actor Kathleen Chalfant narrates from the stage, capturing the dynamic and kinetic language of Four Quartets. The evocative stage design centres on paintings by major American artist Brice Marden, their exquisite colours and strokes each making connections to the geographical locations of the masterpiece's four individual parts. Containing piercing and unforgettable literary passages, this unprecedented collaborative performance of the work is the first to be authorised by the TS Eliot Estate.

Cast/Performers

Kathleen Chalfant (Narrator), Kara Chan, Jason Collins, Dylan Crossman, Christine Flores, Zachary Gonder, Lindsey Jones, Victor Lozano, Maile Okamura, Melissa Toogood, Colin Jacobsen (The Knights)

Creatives/Company

Author: TS Eliot
Choreographer: Pam Tanowitz
Music: Kaija Saariaho
Other: Brice Marden (Images)
Design: Clifton Taylor
Lighting: Clifton Taylor
Costume(s): Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung
Sound: Jean-Baptiste Barriere
Dramaturg: Gideon Lester
Company: Britten Sinfonia (some musicians)