Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: When planning a new production, Quantum Theatre artistic director Karla Boos is a lot like a gardener. After choosing a play, she looks for a place that will nurture it and help it blossom into a full production. Since its founding in 1990, Quantum Theatre has done productions among the gravestones at Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville, inside an empty swimming pool in the basement of the Braddock Carnegie Library and among the ruins of the former Lazarus department store, Downtown.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
'The Electric Baby' takes advantage of unusual setting
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: When planning a new production, Quantum Theatre artistic director Karla Boos is a lot like a gardener. After choosing a play, she looks for a place that will nurture it and help it blossom into a full production. Since its founding in 1990, Quantum Theatre has done productions among the gravestones at Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville, inside an empty swimming pool in the basement of the Braddock Carnegie Library and among the ruins of the former Lazarus department store, Downtown.
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3 comments:
Hoorah! I'm seeing this on Thursday! I'm excited to see if their intents will play out in such a space, because it sounds kind of silly. Not silly, maybe, but maybe hard to divorce the play from the inherent campiness of a school theater space. I know they choose spaces for very specific reasons, so maybe that is something that they wanted to incorporate. It would be an interesting challenge, I think, as a scenic designer, to meet such a specific space chosen by the director and have to work with it/use its architecture and character to create your set. A lot of opportunity lies in this type of theater to enhance the world that is being spun for the audience, since the audience member is not just entering a familiar theater setting and sitting in the house and watching the stage, they are more conscious, I think, of their surroundings and pay more attention. I can't wait to see how it will work in this piece.
I have never seen a Show performed by Quantum theatre but this seems like a wonderful production. I really want to make this production my first. It sounds sort of quirky and odd but fun. I would love to know more about why they decided that a school theatre space is the right space for this show. How does it add to the story and why this particular school? They could have chosen anywhere so why there. I am also just curious as to my the baby glows but I guess that will be revealed when I see it.
This seems to be a regression to community theatre as it was before many of the LORT houses existed. Many theatre companies can not afford their own space and this is making them seek alternate spaces. While quantum seems to be making this work it does not seem like a professional company it is more reminiscent of older community theatre groups. The non professional theatre done for the love of producing theatre can also be a much more creative environment free from the concerns of the success of the piece as entertainment with mass appeal.
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