Monday, October 26, 2026
Quantum’s Magical, Menacing 'radio island' is Theater Finely Tuned
Entertainment Central Pittsburgh: The world premier of Liza Birkenmeier’s new play radio island opened last night in Rockwell Park, cleverly staged (as are most all of Quantum’s productions) in an empty warehouse. Directed by Katie Brook, soon to become Quantum Theatre’s new artistic director in January, radio island is thus the last production to be staged under the leadership of Karla Boos, Pittsburgh’s most adventurous dramaturg, producer, artistic director, actress, designer and audience development director.
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4 comments:
“Radio Island” is a really interesting play to me, having watched “Radio Island” just last week the show itself is still fresh in my mind. The concept and story itself was easy to follow as Ellen juggles the pressure of her high stakes jobs between her familial and romantic relationships. There was so much tension and build up in the story as the hostage situation rises in danger and a stranger stalks in the woods The location they choose to set this play is especially interesting to me. Every seat in the audience is obstructed and instead of trying to solve this problem Quantum chooses to embrace it and design while exploring that fact. There is this hollow and lifeless look to the warehouse setting where it is doused in this dull gray that creates this really muggy atmosphere. Using the atmosphere of the space and the obstructed view Quantum creates this fresh experience of seeing a show and sometimes hearing it through the radio.
I saw a preview performance of radio island on the 22nd as part of my seeing and discussing theatre class and I really enjoyed it. I especially appreciated the time the director and Chelsea took after the production to briefly answer a few of our questions. One thing discussed in the Q&A was that the Actress portraying the mother had at the time only been on the production for 10 days, as the previous actress had broken her shoulder and could no longer be involved. I found it really impressive how the actress was able to develop such a complex character, one that rang true to me as reminiscent of many people in my own life, in such a short period of time. I think it speaks both to the strength of the script and of the creative team that this world was so fully fleshed out that all she had to do was step into it.
So, I don't think I'm in love with radio island (stylized without caps intentionally). The relationship with the script has with reality changes based on the scene, the girlfriend storyline is dropped at a very strange point in the story, and I pretty strongly dislike the ending. What I cannot deny, however, is how the set and lighting work together to take a very okay play and mold it into something memorable and truly one-of-a-kind. I have a lot of experience with (and opinions on) play readings and radio plays, and I think they're a criminally underexplored form of theatre. When I read in the director's statement that radio island was originally conceived as a radio play, I felt my non-existent hackles rise and started to worry that the tactile elements of this production would feel tacked on. Thankfully, that was not the case, and the lighting and set did so much to keep me engaged. I'd love to hear this as a traditional play reading, though... maybe with some fun staging...
Having not seen radio island, and having heard mixed things about it from audience members, seeing this rave review is very interesting, although from what I've heard of Quantum theater, the technical aspects being amazing surprises me very little. What I am most curious about after having read this review is what seems to be their deliberate lack of props. While I would understand if this was, say, a staged reading or cabaret or simply very minimalist, the description of the set and lighting seemed to imply very elaborate and detailed design, so not having that with props is a large hang up point. I would understand if the whole thing was designed to embody the radio play it is based off of, but not with it simply lacking props.
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