Theater Reviews + Features | Pittsburgh City Paper: When Karla Boos began adapting The Winter’s Tale as a Baroque opera, her biggest challenge, ironically, was Shakespeare’s words. And not because she dislikes them. “I worship Shakespeare,” says Boos, whose Quantum Theatre stages the Bard regularly. Rather, the difficulty was that Shakespeare’s plays are, to put it mildly, full of words, and Boos would have to cut most of them to accommodate all the music.
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When I worked for Pre-college this summer, I watched Susan and her team look at initial costume designs for Winter’s Tale. It was incredibly fascinating to see how the designer and the drapers worked together. At the end of the summer, one of the drapers asked me if I was willing to be a volunteer stitcher and I agreed. I’m thrilled to see this production go up in less than a week! From only seeing the costumes, I thought it would be interesting, but knowing the cuts and musical additions, I am intrigued to see how it all comes together. The fact that the director was hesitant about cutting lines also is odd to me. I believe that a lot of Shakespeare’s dialogue is unnecessary and repetitive. In Richard III, there are huge monologues that say the same thing over and over in different metaphorical words. If directors don’t take liberties when it comes to cutting down on Shakespeare, I think that modern audiences favor those production less than if some of the fluff is taken out. The set design is an odd choice in my opinion. The Union Trust Building doesn’t seem like a typical theater space for a Baroque-opera.
I would like to see this. I know Quantum is known for producing very surprising and off-beat work which I love. I think that Quantum Theater is one of the theaters in Pittsburgh that allows for the bigger ideas and does everything in their power to make it work, which is really important in a city with a prevalent theater scene. However, Shakespeare - in my extremely humble opinion - is something I wouldn't touch if I knew I had to knock out so much text. I would be especially careful doing this if I wasn't receiving help from someone who specializes in Shakespearean text, which I think is arguable and that is where it gets awkward. I worry that there are too many 'haters' out there for the show to truly open up a new dialogue for Shakespeare. I suppose we'll see, and I definitely want to see it, only because of sheer curiosity about how that would work.
Since hearing the Scavenger Hunt report during Susan Tsu's Basic Design class I have been fascinated by the work Quantum Theater does. This kind of unconventional, re-imagining of theater excites and inspires me. For such an ancient artwork, it is amazing to see all the new possibilities that can still be explored.
I still am not sure how I feel about this production because I love Shakespeare's brilliant dialogue. All the clever asides, the beautiful speeches, the inside jokes, the rhythm and feeling in his writing. The way he is able to manipulate and play with the English language is one of the reasons I love being able to perform or watch Shakespeare being performed. The fact that they had to cut so much of the dialogue makes me sad. But I would still be very interested in seeing the show. To see how, and if, they were able to distill down the dialogue and keep the true meaning and feel of the story.
This kind of endeavor seems absolutely perfect for Quantum Theater. I'm not entirely sure for how I feel about it just yet. It seems like one of those shows that could go very right but it could also go very wrong. It was also interesting to see Susan Tsu on costumes. I've seen some designs by her, but I've never seen official costumes. I hope I get to see this production and judge for myself. But anyway, on to the logistics; a baroque opera of the Winter's Tale is one of those ideas that works surprisingly well in theory. The one bit of distrust I have for this show is the perspective of the director. It's a very common thing nowadays for people to "worship Shakespeare" as this director so boldly proclaimed. But in my opinion, if you're doing a Shakespeare play, you have to separate yourself from the prestige to a certain degree. It's like writing for a famous, long running television show, if you have too much reverence for the legacy of this entity, you lose some creative capabilities. It's not that I don't trust the director, I'm just worried that she will see Shakespeare as to pristine and untouchable, when she should, instead, attempt to make it her own with this concept that has so much potential.
Go Susan’s show! I have sporadically been helping out costumes in this show, and let me tell you, they are truly amazing. I’m fascinated to see how this show will go over, especially seeing how this article portrays the show. It’s interesting that the director cut out three-fourths of the lines, but it makes sense the more you read Shakespeare. There are so many times when he just repeats things over and over. However, I am surprised that so much was cut, but I suppose the songs will cover more of the story. Last night I found myself watching Richard III with Ian McKellen, which cuts out most of the lines from Shakespeare’s original version, but surprisingly still has the essence of each scene, even if they are all out of order. It makes me wonder if this show is going to have the same feeling I got from the movie, but I can’t wait to see how this production goes; I hope it is a success!
I have consistently been impressed by the work Quantum puts on around town, especially given the enormous challenges they face installing and working in a variety of non-theatrical venues. There just is something to me that seems so much more exciting about doing & seeing shows in a new space each time. That being said, I'm excited to see Winter's Tale, especially now that I've read about how it is such a dramatic reinterpretation of a classic play. Cutting 3/4th of all of the dialogue seems to me like an extreme amount of cutting, but perhaps that is what was called for. Then again, 50 compositions seems to me like a pretty high number to jam into this show. The article also mentioned that this is their most expensive production ever, which will be interesting to see as well. I guess the level of "polish" seems much higher for this Quantum show.. The fact that the show is being put on in a theatre as opposed to a warehouse, the presence of a 10 piece orchestra, and 11 singers all are exciting facets of this show for me.
I just bought my tickets to see The Winter’s Tale and I legit can not wait to see it! Quantum Theater is probably one of my favorite theater companies in the city of Pittsburgh. This is because they are so innovative with their work. They are not afraid to try new things or take risks. Even when a production does not go as well as they wanted they still went for it, and that says a lot about a small theater company like them. All of the other companies that they are collaborating with on this production are some of my other favorite artists in the city. And on top of all of that, Susan, Todd, Joe, and Tony are some of my favorite theatrical designers that I have ever seen and worked with in my life time! They are in such a beautiful space for this production, and I can’t wait to see what they have created!
This is such an interesting take, it looks like the concept is solid and good ideas are coming from a lot of different angles. I think that is what makes a theater successful, a strong team. Quantum seems to have a really strong foundation of artists who work really well together. They always come up with a really intriguing point of view on a piece, and they work hard on keeping their concepts fresh and vivid. Even the decision to produce Winter’s Tale, one of the strangest and most complicated of Shakespeare’s work, is telling of the art that Quantum wants to put out in the world. They enjoy actively pursuing the difficult and the creative, they strive to provoke questions. The environment that Quantum has created for their team, and the work that they produce and develop, is totally something that I would want to be a part of. Any type of theater that is working that hard has to be making something great and worthwhile.
Susan and her team have been working non stop downstairs getting the costumes for this show constructed. I have been lucky enough to watch this show come together over the past few weeks. Susan and her Team have been doing an amazing job and it has been really amazing to watch the costumes transform and go through the stages of finishing. Two of our former Costume students Sophie Hood and Susu, have been working with Susan to help her achieve her designs. Its great that our alumni still stays involved with our program while in pittsburgh, and that Susan looks to them for support instead of outside sources. Susan has come up with beautiful baroque motifs and has creatively come up with methods to make her designs come to life. Susu helped her create baroque motifs out of calking, which have been applied onto many of the costumes, and it looks beautiful. I have attempted to create refined and artistic uses for calking in costumes and admittedly haven't succeeded, i will look to this application if I encounter a need for is in the future.
Through the scavenger hunt project Basic Design I have recently found out about Quantum Theatre. Their creative attitude toward theatre is really intriguing, and I especially love that they always pick interesting venues. During Susan's scavenger hunt project I toured the New Hazlett Theater, and while I was their I got to see one of their old locations. There is an abandoned library attached to the theatre, and for their production of All the Names Quantum adapted an old room on the second floor into a performance space. Seeing this has made me very interested in going to one of Quantum's productions, so I really hope I will be able to make it. I'm not completely sure that I like the amount of text that they had to cut, as Winter's Tale is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. However, I understand that it was necessary for the director's vision and I still would love to see the show.
When it comes to plays which depict human nature, "barely controlled hysteria" is - in my opinion - entirely necessary. I think productions like this one should be an example to theatre companies seeking to leave a lasting impact. The more concepts and artistic choices which can be successfully combined into experimental theatre the better, as this creates a wider range of influence. Audience members watching are more likely not only to be wowed by the spectacle before them but also to find something to connect to within the chaos. What better way to convey Shakespeare's musings on human nature than to appeal to even more humans? More so, it is with an incredible amount of skill, grace, and measure that companies like Quantum must create productions like this, inspiring in other companies a healthy envy which will continue to drive this side of theatre. Quantum has given itself every opportunity to either crash and burn or to be uproariously successful, which is only further proof of the guts and stamina it takes to make truly incredible threatre. Hopefully, Winter's Tale will inspire audiences and other companies for a million different, diverse reasons.
I’m very excited about Quantum Theatre’s production of The Winter’s Tale. For my Scavenger Hunt project in Basic Design, I did quite a bit of research on Quantum Theatre. It’s a company known for doing unconventional theatre, and Baroque Opera falls right in line with their previous productions. Since Susan is designing costumes, I even got to take a peek as them in the dressing rooms of Purnell. It’s a really interesting adaptation, but one that I think will work well. I didn’t realize so much of the text would have to be cut to accommodate the music, but Shakespeare has always been a little wordy for modern audiences, so I’m sure the change is not as damaging as it sounds. The collaboration within this one show is truly impressive. From Attack Theatre to Chatham Baroque, The Winter’s Tale is really a combination of many different elements, to produce a unique experience. I’m excited to go and see the production, because not only will I get to see Susan’s work in person, but I will also get a taste of theatre in Pittsburgh. I’m used to all of the crazy and exciting theatre from New York City, so I thought things in Pittsburgh would be slow in comparison. I’m now starting to realize that may not be true.
I am honestly so excited to see this show. I’ve never been to an opera before, but I am more interested in seeing how all of the elements work together. Working on the costumes has provided me with one vision, while the photos provide another idea completely. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they put such an elaborate, spectacular show on such a small stage and make it work. I’m also very interested in what lines they have chosen, and how they have decided to interpret into an opera. It can be confusing and disorienting to an audience member familiar with the play to see it in a different way. Still, since it is an opera, maybe it’s different? I hope that, as someone unfamiliar with both opera and the play, I will go in with an open mind. It’s been an incredible experience working on it so far, and I can’t wait to actually see the finished product!
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