Quantum Theatre will movie into the future with director, producer, and educator Katie Brook as its new Artistic Director, beginning January 1, 2027. Brook succeeds founder and Artistic Director Karla Boos, who has led Quantum for 36 years.
No stranger to Pittsburgh or Quantum, Brook earned her MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama in 2012 and, while living in Pittsburgh during the pandemic, directed Quantum’s The Cherry Orchard in 2022, when Boos led the cast as Madame Ranevskaya. Brook will direct the world premiere of radio island, written by Liza Birkenmeier (MFA Dramatic Writing, CMU School of Drama), for Quantum, opening October 23, 2026.
Quantum Theatre is know for bringing “ambitious productions into unexpected spaces and landscapes, asking audiences to experience familiar places differently and creating opportunities for artists to work beyond the traditional boundaries of the stage.”
The announcement on Wednesday, September 9, stated:
Brook plans to build on the company’s mission—to make theater that moves you—by continuing this legacy with the next generation of experimental artists and adventurous audiences.
“We are thrilled to welcome Katie Brook to Quantum,” said Board Chair Erica Snyder. “Our search drew more than 100 candidates from across the country, and Katie stood apart at every stage: for the boldness of her artistic vision, for the way she pulls collaborators into the work with her, and for her conviction that live performance can change how an audience sees the world. Quantum has built
something rare over three decades, and we cannot wait to see where Katie takes it.”
Brook has directed at theaters in New York City and beyond, including Ars Nova, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, Abrons Arts Center, and Boston Playwrights Theatre — but her path to artistic leadership has been unconventional by design.
From radical reimagining of canonical plays to documentary performance to fabricated courtroom dramas, her work is characterized by its use of dramatic texts and real-world content to experiment with acting and theatrical form in a collaborative context. Her work often resists the idea that theater must
provide a definitive answer. Instead, she wants to leave room for mystery, interpretation, and discovery.
Brook’s producing work – focused on impactful, nontraditional projects – ranges from self-producing at a young age to working for various groundbreaking companies in New York City. … Brook believes that Pittsburgh offers something rare: the space, community, and creative appetite to support ambitious, experimental theater.
“For me, being an Artistic Director means setting a vision and creating the conditions for great artists to do their best work. I want to build creative teams, support bold projects, and develop work that keeps Quantum relevant and essential to Pittsburgh and beyond,” said Brook. “I believe in trusting the people I
work with, empowering them to make decisions, and giving them the space to bring their own creative ideas to life.”
Brook sees Pittsburgh stepping into the spotlight as a cultural center for adventurous, artistic-driven theater. She doesn’t want to replicate what’s happening everywhere else; she wants to deepen the unique creative ecosystem that is already taking shape in the Steel City.
At the center of her vision for Quantum is trust: trust artists to bring their intelligence, training, and imagination to a project, trust in collaborators to help shape and execute that shared vision, and trust in audiences to find their own meaning in what they experience.
In a fitting twist of timing, Brook was chosen to direct Quantum’s next production, radio island, long before the search for Artistic Director began. While the production remains a Karla Boos-led Quantum Theatre show, the overlap was pure serendipity.
“I perceive mysterious worlds in Katie as an artist that make me really excited to see what she brings us,” said Boos. “I’ve known her five years now, been directed by her, and gone through 18 month’s preparation for radio island with her. She’s an amazing artist, as she would have to be to have bested great and gratifying competition for the job. And she really wants to run a theater of our size and character, where we’ve so consciously traded things commonly valued for innovation and freedom.”
Categories: Arts and Ideas
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