Reviews and Articles
2009 - 2010 Season
Review: The Task
By Michelle Pilecki, Pittsburgh City Paper, April 29, 2010
"Larry John Meyers delivers one of his best performances ever as the aristocrat, with wide turns as the resolute leader, the buffoon in burlesque, the pusillanimous traitor."
Quantum's 'Task' is worth the work
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 29, 2010
"Quantum Theatre's latest, "The Task" by the German Heiner Muller (1929-95), is an epic, poetic, highly theatrical provocation in the fullest Quantum manner."
Quantum Theatre debuts a thought-provoking 'Task'
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 27, 2010
"Engrossing, bewildering, provocative, vivid and unrelenting -- that's just a few of the reactions generated by Quantum Theatre's production of "The Task.""
Reivew: The Task
By Gordon Spencer, WRCT, May 2, 2010
"Everyone in the seven member acting ensemble makes it all compellingly clear and meaningful. But in one scene Larry John Meyers especially stands our in a brilliant, virtuosic interpretation whose heat glows in the darkness."
Quantum Theatre offers a nightmarish work about revolution from a renowned East German playwright
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 21, 2010
"Unlike a traditional theater performance where the audience remains seated throughout, Quantum Theatre's production of Heiner Muller's "The Task" will progress through a series of installation-like visions and experiences inside a large, post-industrial space in the Gage Building."
Quantum wants to make 'The Task' tick
By Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 22, 2010
""The Task" represents another notch in the belt of Quantum Theatre's mission, now in its 19th year."
Quantum Theatre's 'Task' should move audience — literally
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, April 22, 2010
"Müller's surrealist, collage-like approach "scares a lot of people away," says Carnegie Mellon theater professor Jed Allen Harris."
Quantum Theatre wants to put audiences up to 'The Task'
By Sierra Starks, The Pitt News, April 21, 2010
"From the outside of the Strip District’s Gage Building, a nondescript gray-brown building, there’s no indication that a theatrical work of art is set to take place within its walls."
Quantum Scores with a Clever 'Candide'
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 10, 2009
"The cavernous concrete confines of a now-defunct car dealership's repair shop may not be the best of all possible worlds for a musical. But it's certainly an intriguing site."
Quantum Stages Voltaire's 'Candide' in a Defunct Pittsburgh Landmark
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 5, 2009
"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."
Quantum Theatre Stages Leonard Bernstein's Darkly Satirical 'Candide'
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 5, 2009
For Karla Boos and Andres Cladera, the vacant repair shop of a former auto dealership is the best of all possible worlds in which to stage a musical.
Candide Neighborhood Night
Bloomfield Now Blog, November 19, 2009
"This Friday, November 20 join Councilman Peduto for dinner and the Quantum Theatre production Candide."
Quantum Theatre's Candide
Friendship Neighborhood Blog, November 2, 2009
"Sure, we have Tom Cruise and Russel Crowe in town, but we have some local celebrities in our neighborhood for Quantum Theatre’s production of Candide, adapted from Voltaire with music by Leonard Bernstein."
Quantum Theatre to Stage Candide, Opens 11/5
Broadwayworld.com Blog, October 14, 2009
"Quantum Theatre will set thier next venture, Bernstein's Candide, in the former Don Allen Auto City. The musical is directed by Karla Boos and will play November 5th through 22nd."
Quantum Theatre Tackles Leonard Bernstein's Muiscal Adaptation of Voltaire's Candide
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, November 5, 2009
"The stage for Quantum Theatre's production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide is oval, just like a racetrack. That's no coincidence, says director Karla Boos. The show is a fast-paced comic operetta."
Leads Drive Quantum's 'Candide' on Entertaining Journey
By Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 10, 2009
"A round of applause then, for Karla Boos and her Quantum Theatre's ambitious staging of the musical version of Voltaire's 1759 satire, buffed up by Leonard Bernstein's music and contributions from a former U.S. poet laureate with a few lyric witticisms tossed in later by Stephen Sondheim."
Candide at Quantum Theatre
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, November 16, 2009
"You oughtn't need a reason beyond Leonard Berstein's stunningly crafty and melodic score to see this stage musical based on Voltaire's classic."
Quantum Theatre Presents Candide
By Maggie Ondrey, Bloomfield Blog, October 29, 2009
"Quantum Theatre, a company that doesn’t believe in the use of traditional performing spaces, is coming to Bloomfield with its latest production, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide."
'36 Views' deftly layers concepts, clues and consequences
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 5, 2009
"Quantum Theatre artistic director Karla Boos directs with a precision that allows us to absorb the multiple story threads and character agendas, but also swiftly moves the events along to a conclusion that -- once experienced -- appears as inevitable as it is surprising."
Quantum Theatre's '36 Views' offers alternate existences
By Elham Khatami, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 30, 2009 "Questions of authenticity abound in "36 Views," as characters examine the validity of everything from artwork and artifacts, to feelings of love and friendship."
Theater en plein air: Quantum brings the magic of Naomi Iizuka’s 36 Views to Washington's Landing
By Pop City, July 29, 2009
"What could be more appropriate for a mid-summer’s night than a homegrown theater production set along a tranquil riverbank?"
Quantum's 'Views' uses images to enhance playwright's themes
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 26, 2009
"'I like the tension of putting people in places where what is real is undeniable and art is constructed in front of us,' Boos says. Iizuka's play is set in the contemporary world of art and antiques and the people who collect, curate, buy, sell, crave and love rare treasures."
Arts performances project an image
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 26, 2009
"Buoyed by improvements in technology, drops in equipment costs and a new generation of tech-savvy artists, video footage, computer-generated graphics and simple projections of still images are becoming commonplace components in theater, dance and even symphony performances."
Pittsburgh's Quantum Theatre grows without a stage
By Chris O'Toole, Keystone Edge, July 23, 2009
"In an sophisticated reprise of old Judy Garland-Andy Rooney stagecraft, Pittsburgh’s Quantum Theatre has found the key to artistic longevity: forget the theater and concentrate on the show."
Quantum Theatre's 2009-10 season casts its eye over time, space
By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 3, 2009
"As Quantum Theatre embarks on its 2009-10 season, artistic director Karla Boos is looking backward and forward as well as all around town at new locations."
Quantum's schedule unusual, as usual
By Martine Powers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 3, 2009
"When it comes to choosing productions for offbeat Quantum Theatre, artistic director Karla Boos' selections are always quirky."
2008 - 2009 Season
Quantum Theatre Offers a Compelling 'Yerma'
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 7, 2009
"Under the direction of Melanie Dreyer, Quantum's interpretation and translation of Lorca's play contains passages that are almost poetic, and intersperses and embellishes the action with the music and dance of flamenco."
You Won't Escape the Grip of Quantum's 'Yerma'
By Anna Rosenstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 6, 2009
"There's no escape, a fact made all the more clear by the vast curtains of white fabric that surround the risers, enclosing the audience. Director Melanie Dreyer uses these to evoke a nightmarish quality, with characters looming in shadow behind them, conveying both a sense of the spiritual and the subconscious, two worlds that overlap heavily in Lorca's poetic drama."
Quantum Theatre Tackles Frederico Garcia Lorca's Earthy 'Yerma'
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, April 2, 2009
"Lorca, the iconic Spanish poet, was an outspoken Communist who in 1936, at age 38, was gunned down by Nationalists during his country's civil war. Frequently drawing on gypsy culture, he left behind a celebrated body of work, including the posthumously published Poet in New York."
Flamenco Taps into Characters' Emotions in 'Yerma'
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribue-Review, April 1, 2009
"As in its production of "Red Shoes" in 2007, "Yerma" will use the rhythms and dance steps of flamenco to express and illuminate the repressions and yearning of Federico Garcia Lorca's drama about Yerma, a childless woman living in rural Spain in the 1930s."
Quantum's 'Mouth to Mouth' Packs a Punch
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, February 3, 2009
"Stage time is miraculous stuff. Kevin Elyot's "Mouth to Mouth" takes Quantum Theatre 80 intermissionless minutes to perform, but it covers a momentous year in the lives of two brothers, their wives, one son and a self-effacing friend named Frank -- which is what, on the whole, he is not."
No One Listens in 'Mouth to Mouth'
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 3, 2009
"Everybody's talking. But almost no one ever listens in "Mouth to Mouth." And almost everyone pays a price for that inattention. That's not a criticism."
Quantum Theatre Finally Gets its Shot at 'Mouth to Mouth'
Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 2009
"Karla Boos has been wanting to do Kevin Elyot's 'Mouth to Mouth' since she saw the world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in England nine years ago."
Quantum Theatre stages 'Mouth to Mouth'
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 29, 2009
"It has been nearly eight years since Quantum Theatre artistic director Karla Boos first saw a production of Kevin Elyot's "Mouth to Mouth," at London's Royal Court Theatre. She's been pursuing the production rights ever since, patiently adding and subtracting it from several Quantum season schedules as producers alternately announced and postponed a New York production that would precede releasing production rights to other American theater companies."
Quantum Theatre's Museum of Desire
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, November 24, 2008
""Breaking the fourth wall" is a pretty hoary concept in theater, but Dan Jemmett's approach to it is refreshing. As he demonstrates in his latest Quantum collaboration, the British-born director exploits the fourth wall at once so casually and so thoroughly because we are never sure that he even acknowledges its existence."
The Museum of Desire
By Robert Isenberg, Pittsburgh City Paper, November 13, 2008
"Precisely 11 years ago, I was introduced to John Berger's Ways of Seeing, a slim manifesto about art theory, and I have never highlighted a book so fiercely. In only 155 pages, Ways of Seeing changed not only how I approach art, but my entire perception of the world."
Art, music, Audience Objects of Quantum's 'Museum of Desire'
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 12, 2008
"Heard melodies are sweet," Keats wrote, "but those unheard are sweeter." Take that as one key to "The Museum of Desire," a Quantum Theatre world premiere devised by director Dan Jemmett and his actors that mixes questioning prose, arresting verbal images, articulate actor guides, an actual museum of rare delicacies -- and even live, heard music."
Frick Hosts Meditation on Art in 'Desire'
By Alice T. Carter, Tribune Review, November 11, 2008
"Quantum Theatre prides itself on coloring outside the lines. Its fans know -- and look forward to -- nontraditional productions in unusual and unfamiliar spaces that defy established theatrical categories. The results often are compelling to watch but difficult to describe."
Quantum Theatre offers a variety of art in ‘Museum of Desire’
By Alice T. Carter, Tribune Review, November 6, 2008
"Director Dan Jemmett is back in town to create another theatrical evening for Quantum Theatre. Jemmett is the Paris-based director who previously created "Dog Face" and "The Collected Works of Billy the Kid" for Quantum, both of which went on to performances at the Festival de Otono in Madrid."
Theater in the Galleries: Quantum debuts Museum of Desire & Flowers in a Corner at the Frick
Pop City, November 5, 2008
"Based on the stories of celebrated and influential English art critic, novelist, painter, and author John Berger, Quantum’s latest provocative production blends theatre, music and visual art."
The Museum of Desire
Frick Art & Historical Center, October 28, 2008
"The Frick is currently in the midst of an exciting creative collaboration with Quantum Theatre. Director Dan Jemmett and the players of 404 Strand are developing a unique theatrical experience that will take place in the “Green Gallery” of The Frick Art Museum."
Benefit Dinner for Quantum Theatre
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 16, 2008
"Pam and Ken McCrory hosted Quantum Theatre's benefit Dinner With the Director Aug. 4 at their spectacular Mount Washington home. Director Karla Boos made the rounds before discussing the creative directions she is taking with "Cymbeline" and Quantum Theatre."
Caution: Robotic Technology at Work
By Davi Napolean, Live Design, November 19, 2008
"When Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh collaborated with the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University to create a high-tech production of Cymbeline, the joint effort enabled 21
On Stage: Cymbeline
By Michelle Pilecki, Pittsburgh City Paper, August 7, 2008
"Pack a rain poncho so you don't risk missing any of Quantum Theatre's outdoor production of Cymbeline."
Stage Review: Quantum's Take on Cymbeline Lively and Elegant
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 6, 2008
"Who knew "Cymbeline" had so many references to the heavens? On opening night, every one seemed to allude to the skies above Mellon Park, which entered the action on cue, saving their grandest pyrotechnics for the arrival of sky-born Jupiter and subsequent battle scenes, calming down just in time for the post-traumatic rebirth and sweet revelations."
Shakespeare's Cymbeline is a Machine of Sorts -- Or so Proposes Quantum Theatre
By Paul Ruggiero, Pittsburgh City Paper, July 31, 2008
"Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's last plays, can be a tough nut to crack. It's comedic, but not as explicitly as, say, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Quantum Clicks Gears with Robot 250
By Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 31, 2008
"William Shakespeare's plays have been reinterpreted in countless ways. But until now, robots have been rare players on the Shakespearean stage."
Quantum Mechanics: 'Cymbeline,' Shakespeare's Tale of Comedy, Tragedy, Love and ... Robots?
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 31, 2008
"For 18 years, Karla Boos has chosen what plays to stage because of some inner chemistry, whether in them or her. But her latest venture, Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline,' has the director-actor-visionary of Quantum Theatre feeling 'loose and light-hearted.'"
Complex Classic Meets Robotic Complexity
By Alice T. Carter, Tribune Review, July 27, 2008
"Robotics and a rose garden are two seemingly disparate elements that Quantum Theatre will use to bring William Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" to life."
Non-Traditional Venues Can Inspire Art, or Just Great Performances
By Alice T. Carter, Tribune Review, July 6, 2008
"Not all theater takes place in theaters. Area companies such as Quantum Theatre..."
The Invasion of the BigBots
By Debra Smit, PopCity, June 25, 2008
"This summer Pittsburgh asks itself, what is a robot?"
2007–2008 Season
Stage Review: Haunting 'Breakfast With Mugabe' Satisfies
By Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wednesday, February 13, 2008
“A joke making the rounds in Harare, Zimbabwe: A man on the way home from a petrol run is caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic. A stranger taps on his car window. Cautiously, he rolls it down and asks what he wants...."
Stage Review: 'Mugabe' Provides Much to Consider
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Tuesday, February 12, 2008
"From the moment 'Breakfast with Mugabe' begins, you can feel the tension...."
Stage Preview: Evil Spirits, African Politics and a Highly Anticipated Role for Local Actor Don Marshall Spark Quantum Theatre's Breakfast With Mugabe
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, Wednesday, February 6, 2008
"In a shuttered department store, Quantum Theatre's Karla Boos directs a rehearsal for the U.S. premiere of Fraser Grace's Breakfast With Mugabe. The scene is a tense one..."
Stage Preview: the Drama of Politics
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sunday, February 3, 2008
“For Quantum Theatre artistic director Karla Boos, the second floor of the former Lazarus Department store, Downtown, is the perfect setting for a play about two men attempting to exorcise ghosts both past and present...."
Stage Preview: Quantum Play Sits Down With Zimbabwe Dictator Mugabe
By Dan Simpson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Thursday, February 7, 2008 "Fraser Grace's 'Breakfast With Mugabe' is fully consistent with Quantum Theatre's practice of presenting edgy, contemporary theater that does not shy away from controversial topics...."
Stage Review: 'Therese Raquin' Flows on Pool Stage
By Anna Rosenstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wednesday, October 3, 2007
"When I was little, we used to have a fish tank that I hated. Still, I felt compelled to watch the slimy creatures, swimming through their tiny world. Watching them watching me triggered a sort of existential crisis-in charge, perhaps, of a world I didn't understand but with the nagging sensation of being watched. If them, I thought of the stupid fish, why not stupid me, as well? This flashback was brought to me-and you-courtesy of Quantum Theatre's production of 'Therese Raquin.' It's staged in the swimming pool of Carnegie Library, Braddock. The audience sits on risers built over the pool and the actors are below, literally and metaphorically in the deep end...."
Stage Review: 'Therese Raquin' Submerges Audience in Taut Drama
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Tuesday, October 2, 2007
"It sounds like a joke, or at least the solution to a game of Clue: 'Therese Raquin' in a swimming pool with a cast. But there's serious dramatic purpose for Quantum Theatre's setting for its latest production-a defunct swimming pool inside the Braddock Carnegie Library...."
Stage Preview: Director Pursues Full Life With Quantum, Point Park
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sunday, September 30, 2007
"Based in San Francisco but retired from his West Coast teaching jobs, stage director and choreographer Rodger Henderson could choose to be anywhere...."
Stage Preview: Going Deep
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thursday, September 27, 2007
"For its next production, Quantum Theatre is going off the deep end. The cast of 'Therese Raquin' will descend into the depths of a long-empty swimming pool in the Braddock Carnegie Library to perform Emile Zola's tale of obsession and desire on the rust-stained white ceramic tile floor of this once-vibrant public amenity...."
Stage Review: Quantum Surrounds Hartwood Stables With Beauty of 'Meaulnes'
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Thursday, August 9, 2007
"Another world premiere - the third in a row for Quantum Theatre - and maybe you're thinking, every time my kid gets up on the coffee table, that's a world premiere, too. Sure. But this is Quantum, one of our most adventuresome, accomplished pro companies, so 'world premiere' means something. And in the case of this famous novel from France, 'Le Grand Meaulnes,' and a noted adaptor-director-composer team from England, the 'world' part means even more...."
Stage Review: Le Grand Meaulnes
By Robert Isenberg, Pittsburgh City Paper, Wednesday, August 8, 2007
"In France, Le Grand Meaulnes is considered a classic novel. No student would graduate from a French ecole without reading it, just as every American seems to read The Catcher in the Rye. Written by Alain Fournier on the cusp of World War I, Meaulnes has dominated nearly a century of literature classes, even though the book is almost unknown outside of France...."
Stage Review: Quantum Production Encapsulates Sentimental Mood of 'Meaulnes'
By Alice T. Carter Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Tuesday, August 7, 2007
"For many French people, Alain-Fournier's 'Le Grand Meaulnes' is a much-loved classic French novel that evokes a romantic, idyllic era and a way of life that was destroyed by the outbreak of World War I...."
Stage Preview: Quantum Ventures to Hartwood Stables For'le Grand Meaulnes
By Anna Rosenstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Thursday, August 2, 2007
“The Stables at Hartwood Acres display beautifully on a summer day. The horses graze peacefully in the field. The rugged cobblestone of the courtyard and stone stable walls do little to divulge their age...."
Stage Preview: Hartwood Stables Set Stage for Quantum Premiere
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thursday, August 2, 2007
"As soon as she saw the stables at Hartwood Acres, director Di Trevis knew she had found the perfect place to stage the world premiere of 'Le Grand Meaulnes' for Quantum Theatre...."
Stage Review: 'Billy the Kid' Is Renegade Theater
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Thursday, June 21, 2007
"We expect Quantum Theatre to do the unusual, challenging and unexpected. But with "The Collected Works of Billy the Kid," it does so by presenting a theatrical adventure that isn't, in the usual sense, a play...."
Bottoms up: the World Premiere of Billy the Kid Turns Traditional Theater on Its Head
By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, Wednesday, June 13, 2007
"The actors rehearsing The Collected Works of Billy the Kid don't have a script...and it wouldn't help them if they did. Because if director Dan Jemmett were using one, it would include stage directions like 'Just try anything for now. Just to stimulate our imaginations and pretend what it could be.'....
Stage Preview: Former House of Porn Becomes the Refuge for Billy the Kid
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Thursday, June 14, 2007
"Dan Jemmett says of Karla Boos, 'To no one else in the world could I have said, I want to do this in a disused cinema and have her say, I think I have one.' What the artistic director of Quantum Theatre had in mind was the North Side's Garden Theater, just rescued from the porn business after a long struggle by the City of Pittsburgh...."
Quantum Stages 'Wake' for Famed Outlaw Billy the Kid
By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thursday, June 14, 2007
“European director Dan Jemmett has spent the past month searching for Billy the Kid inside the moldering Garden Theater on the North Side...."
Former X-Rated Garden Theatre Set for a Porn-Free Play
By Bonnie Pfister, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Monday, June 11, 2007
"The infamous Garden Theatre on the North Side will have its first post-porn performance this week...."
Former North Side Porn Theater Awaits Restoration As a Possible Arts Space
By Timothy McNulty, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sunday, May 20, 2007
"In the years before it turned to X-rated films, the Garden Theater was so averse to hosting off-color movies that it would not even show 'Frankenstein.'...."
