Post Gazette: "Quantum Theatre stages classics and plays that are largely unknown, often American premieres, in places no one thought to stage them before.
So Quantum's 'Candide,' opening tomorrow, is a bit of a twist, a well-known modern comic classic staged at a site we've been looking at for years, the electric blue auto palace on Baum Boulevard, the former Don Allen Auto City."
6 comments:
The great thing about Quantum, is not only that they perform in new and creative locations, but that they embrace these locations. It's not hard to turn a new location into a performance space, but Quantum manages to make the location where they perform add to the story line and experience of the show. By playing jokes, already found in the script, to be about cars, they bring the show and the location together to create a richer experience. This also makes the audience focus less on the location and allows them to embrace it in order to see the performance in a new way.
There are several very interesting aspects to this production. OF course the location is unique, different and very intriguing, but the parts of the show that are of interest to me are, the use of the orchestra, both in the staging and as part of the set. These kinds of choices are what makes theater great. While all of the spectacle and technological innovation of Broadway are definitely helping theater move forward as an industry, these kinds of performance are helping theater evolve as an art. The ultimate goal is of course, to combine these two and to use the technology to advance the art of theater and create a work that is important and relevant to our culture.
since the presentations in basic design during the first week of classes, quantum theater has intrigued me. Their use of performance space is fascinating. Hopefully, this will be the first quantum show that i get to see. The piece itself sounds interesting- its not one i am at all familiar with. The music is Bernstein however, which just sounds incredible. I'm also curious to see how they have turned the script into car jokes every 30 seconds, that seems like an interesting trip. Also, from what the article says, CMU and its people has some involvement in this production.
Performing in non-traditional spaces not only adds an additional environmental aspect to a production, but it also inherits the history of that building as well. Members of a community going to see the show not only will be affected by the physical structure of the space, but will also bring along any memories of being in the space before, driving by the space on a rainy day, or news stories about the location. Theatre companies that use renovated churches, for example, have an inherent religious overtone to all their productions regardless of the play.
The work that Quantum Theatre does is extremely interesting. I love how Boos takes a space that no one would think of to perform Candide in and finds ways to really make it shine there. I love the use of the orchestra too. I think that it's important to realize that musicians are performers too and it adds another interesting dimension to a performance if the actors are really including the Orchestra in their performance. I hope I get to see Candide, because it is quite a funny story, and I would love to see how Quantum Theatre has really made it their own. I love how they really make each play they do their own!
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