Directed by Sara Brodie
Idea by Peter Barber
THE SOURCE:
The Kreutzer Sonata - Lev Tolstoy
The Kreutzer Sonata Op. 47 for Violin and Piano - Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 1, after Tolstoy: The Kreutzer Sonata - Leos Janacek
“Stage Left blend the potent combination of Beethoven, Tolstoy and Janacek to create a kind of Molotov Cocktail of ecstasy; despair and violence” Radio New Zealand
THE STORY:
A Man on a train is tormented by a string quartet. The train stops and quartet disembark at a drawing room haunted by the presence of a woman. Drawn out of the carriage the man recognised his wife (represented by a pianist and a dancer). Supplied with a camera and evidence of his past he attempts to save us from a voyeur’s fate.
In a nightmarish confessional he exposes all beauty to be corrupt. The quartet drive him towards a re-enactment of the night his wife and a visiting violinist play Beethoven’s masterpiece - The Kreutzer Sonata. He accuses music as being, "the most refined form of sensual lust". His jealousy and music combine to provide the catalyst to him murdering the woman he loves.
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