Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring. Staging Life and Death

Between 2014 and 2016, Quarantine produced the first iteration of Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring., an epic quartet comprising two live performances, an installation and a film. The full quartet premiered at the Old Granada Television Studios in Manchester in March/April 2016. This illustrated volume is both a case study of the work and an investigation into the various themes surrounding it. This book provides a unique insight into the work of one of the UKs most innovative and original theatre and performance companies, and the questions and issues that Quarantines work inspires. At the heart of the quartet is the human life cycle and our relationship with time: the processes of living and dying, the experience of looking backwards and forwards, of being in the present, and of reflection on the stages of life. The volume brings together a range of artists, producers and thinkers who have significant things to say about these important themes. Some were integral to the production of the quartet; some have been inspired by Quarantines work; and some are internationally renowned experts on the issues at the heart of the production. The result is a publication that provides new and varied perspectives on Quarantines most ambitious work, and on the human life cycle itself. It will be attractive to those working in theatre and performance, to philosophers, psychologists, designers and architects and also to those outside of performance and academia. For we are all reflective, to some extent, about the process of living.