»The set-design concieved by Ben Cain and Tina Gverović pushes the development of the story into an abandoned dump with the remains of its former glory. At the appearance of Marquise de Merteul – interpreted by Ana Karić – it becomes clear where the idea comes from. The theatrical mask forms a counterpart to the significance of the space in the scenery. The proper placement of the outer image into a whole is though not followed by an acting surplus. In spite of this, in essential moments it succeeds in retaining the time of the first impression as it maintains the consistency of the visual image.
We surrender to the soft waving of the gentle and romantic athmosphere through the melodies of the live music in the background. Mitja Vrhovnik Smrekar, as expected, strums again the right tones placing them upon the strings played by Tvrtko Dujmović. The sarcastic position in the inter-breaks is even intensified by the striking of the electric guitar in the rock underground scene.
It is only the irruption of the second actor that enables the passage from the phantasm of the object of desire to a possibility of compensation for the lost youth freshness in bed ventures and skin rubbing. Valmont i.e. Robert Waltl is placed into most primary male role. A hunter for trophies in the form of memories penetrating deep under the skin. This is a parallel pointed out also by the costume design created by Ana Savić–Gecan – an interlaying of human and animal skin ...«
(Nika Leskovšek: Between phantasy and reality of an after-treated porno-diva, Radio Študent Ljubljana, 15.01.2007)
»From walls placed irregularly and lowering the depth classic office lamps are pulsing; a chandellier is hanging from the ceiling; the main stage property is a classical office chair. This space for a post-modern variation of Choderlosa de Laclos' novel Dangerous Liaisons could be an air-raid shelter or some post-apocaliptic den where the two protagonists have found shelter ... The den becomes their home where nothing sacred exists – the least of all faith in God or making sense of the absurd image of the future. Live played, frenzic music line of the bass guitar forms a base true to momentary situations.«
(Andrej Jaklič: A thin furcoat of love, Delo, 13. 1. 2007)
»…Buljan reduces the great gestures to their minimum givin space though to the actor's voice. So, Ana Karić spoke her lines loudly and sharply, accenting each word through her expression, mostly directed to the audience, while Robert Waltl spoke his lines coyly, gently and softly achieving inferiority in his very pose of the body. In the exchanging of roles, Ana Karić does not change her way of acting essentially, she creates no greater distance. On the other hand, Robert Waltl surprised in every single scene that followed, and the peak of it was the fore-last scene where he – in a grotesque and spectacular way explains to Mr. Tourvel hhis wife's last words before she killed herself ...
From ITD's January opening nights Quartet has proven to be the most successful till now.«
(Katarina Kolega: Sado-maso games, Slobodna Dalmacija, 23. 1. 2007)
»Sitting motionless in a chair, in her corset and high-heeled boots, Marquise de Merteul – interpreted by Ana Karić – performs Mueller's text in her usual luxurious, intensly seducing acting »affectation«, finishing her lines with her mouth open, nodding with her head to give more accent to single exclamations, or baring her face of her »superior« smile, fixing the public with her eyes slightly closed. During most of the performance, Robert Waltl as Valmont gives the impression of a tired victim rather than that of a persecutor. In the end he actually emanates horror in the scene of death bathing in the clown circle of light - with his madly speech and desperate face expressionas offered as a proof of parody of humiliation even in the last breath. Both actors in turn play also the roles of the saint Tourvel and of the vergin Cecil Volange. Well, »Quartet« is actually first a »duet« where the director Ivica Buljan sees the drama of mutual humiliation and biting not as equality of male and female sadism, but rather as a dance of a she-spider around a paralised midge ...
Buljan's Quartet totally shuns provocativity, yet it is worth seeing because of the continuity in the acting impetuosity of Ana Karić, and because of the final »explosion« into a cry of a victim performed by Robert Waltl.
(Nataša Govedić: Fur binding of a naked skin, Novi list, 25. 1.
