Culture Under the Stars
Quantum Theatre presents thought-provoking works in a variety of creative settings
This August, Quantum Theatre kicks off its 2024-25 season at Longue Vue Club in Verona, while bringing “contemporary resonance” to Eugene O’Neill’s final work “A Moon for the Misbegotten.” The outdoor production allows audiences to enjoy the poignant love story in a unique setting — beneath a real moon and tapestry of stars.
Get to Know: Quantum Theatre
Quantum, a company of progressive, professional artists, consistently explores themes of truth, beauty and human relationships in uncommon venues that range from an urban excavation where street noises can be heard throughout the performance, to a warehouse in wintertime, which means spectators require blankets during the show.
Karla Boos, founder and artistic director of Quantum Theatre, started the company in 1990. “I’d come from Los Angeles,” she explains, “knowing Pittsburgh a bit and feeling it was the right size city where I could make something happen, and that the things I brought would be different.”
Boos was interested in experimenting. She’d been to CalArts, which was both global and encouraged artists working together across disciplines, making her want to create work that also bore those influences. “I was following international theater makers like Robert Lepage, Complicite, Ariane Mnouchkine,” she says.
So she created a company that aims to move people with their experiments. The Quantum website declares the following: “We give voice to artists who invest deeply and touch the personal, even as they tell a tale, a far-off, magical, scary, too-close-to-home, knee-slapping, sob-inducing tale.”
Quantum's Quest for Truth
These days, the talents who appear in Quantum productions hail from near and far. “It’s been a really satisfying mix of local artists I have developed long-term relationships with,” Boos says, “and people from other places who would affect us in a lasting way.”
On the Quantum website, you’ll also find the following words: "We’re looking for truthfulness, knowing that the word is a slippery slope.” Boos was happy to expand upon this sentiment, sharing that “truth” was put into the mission statement 35 years ago, and she’s never wanted to change the declaration since.
“We dimensionalize it when we talk about our work,” she says, “We are looking for truthfulness in the theater, we want to ‘find’ real human beings, we are real human beings ourselves and tap our real feelings, ideas and the real capabilities of our bodies in creating characters and telling their stories. But my truth won’t be yours, and YOU (the viewer) are an equal contributor to what transpires in our time together.”
“I’d seen peers and previous professors of mine in their thought-provoking shows over the years,” she says, “so I was very excited when the opportunity presented itself.”
Clark feels most excited to be a part of the atmospheric experience that Quantum provides its audiences. “There is so much care that goes into choosing a location that gives both the actors and the audience the optimal experience, and I believe Quantum excels in that,” she says.
“Those who attend their productions have the opportunity to be immersed in the world of a play in the familiarity of their own city, which allows you to connect with a piece that much more. For our production, we have the privilege of performing on the grounds of Longue Vue Club, which has a beautiful landscape for the audience to enjoy while seeing the play.”
Clark can’t wait to see how their production of “A Moon for the Misbegotten” will grow and transform over the course of the run, since so much changes both inside and outside of the performance.
“We will even see it change from daytime to night outdoors during the show,” she explains. “Eugene O’Neill wrote these rich, complex characters who evolve throughout the play, and my hope is that my castmates and I will do the same as we take the audiences on the journey of this beautiful story of self-acceptance, love and forgiveness. I hope audiences leave realizing those things are available to them and can be extended to others as well.”
One-Of-A-Kind Experiences at Quantum
Clark believes that Quantum enhances the Pittsburgh cultural scene by offering unique qualities to the company: intimate, moving site-specific theater. She also appreciates how they present special events that enhance theatergoers’ experiences, like Date Night Under the Moon, Ladies Night and Q&As.
“With all the beautiful theater establishments we have in the city,” she says, “it’s great to know there’s an option that allows you to step outside (literally) and get a fulfilling theatrical experience. In the same way Quantum is specific about the location of their productions, they’re thoughtful in selection of their plays for Pittsburgh. By choosing both classical and new works, it challenges our city and reflects its diversity.”
When asked how readers can best support Quantum, Boos happily replies with a simple request: By going to the theater.
“Ours, Quantum, and other theaters,” she clarifies. “Don’t believe you can get the same thing on your couch with Netflix, because you can’t. Go to the theater, or there won’t be theater to go to.”
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