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Ciara, 2016

By David Harrower

“We thought it was a mesmerizing show! Actress was engaging with dialogue and movement.” –Alyssa Cypher, Patron


 

“Mary Rawson was incredible – 90 minutes of dialogue and all the change in emotions as she told her story. Loved the set and the lighting -very Quantum-unique. Wonderful evening.” –Kathleen Slencak, Patron


 

“Ciara is an excellent production, even by Quantum’s high standards. I was impressed with David Harrower’s play, which slowly reveals the character of an interesting woman without the aid of showing her interacting with any other person. I think having a single character on stage makes you work harder to get the picture, and in this instance, the work pays off.

Mary Rawson’s performance as Ciara will live with me for a long time. As good as Harrower’s script is, it is still up to the only actor on stage to keep our attention for the entire performance. Rawson did that well. She not only become Ciara, but remained Ciara the entire time with no false notes.

The play is very much about Glasgow, and not being from Scotland, I doubt I would have understood the play very well if it were presented on a bare stage. Fortunately, the stage’s backdrop is a painting created by Bob Qualters for this production, which is illuminated and animated by Joe Seamans. The backdrop was beautiful in itself, but was also helpful to me in visualizing the events described by Ciara.

The ending of the play not only answers the question of why Ciara is telling her story, but also imposes an important question, which could be framed as “what does it mean to be true to yourself”?” –Ken Joseph, Patron