In Summer of 2021 Terina J. Hicks, founder of CobblerWorld, will open her first commercial kitchen after six years of operation. “It’s a dream come true,” said Hicks. “I’ve been working hard at this for a long time. It feels good, you know, to see that work rewarded and to have the community come out and support you.” Hicks deserves plenty of credit for achieving this milestone, but one unlikely partnership with a theater company helped push her across the finish line – Quantum Theatre and its NearBuy local commerce initiative.
Quantum has made its name with a particular brand of experimental theater making. Its seasons of eclectic works range from Shakespeare and operas to contemporary plays and immersive three-dimensional experiences. All share a key mode of production — they are environmentally made. Founder and Artistic Director Karla Boos takes audiences outside of performance temples, like those Downtown in the Cultural District, and into hidden gems all over the city. Now in its 30th year, the homes for its projects number nearly 100, but favorites include the Braddock Carnegie Library’s abandoned swimming pool for Thérèse Raquin, a grove of crabapple trees at the Frick Museum for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a cabin built on a dock at Aspinwall Riverfront Park for The River, and the Carrie Blast Furnaces for recent production of King Lear.
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