Quantum Theatre has announced its 2026-2027 season, a three-production lineup including a world premiere, exploring “haunting returns, unexpected reckonings, and bold new beginnings,” while continuing the company’s long-running tradition of staging performances in unconventional spaces throughout Pittsburgh. The season also marks… Read More ›
Theater is an art form that continues to expand humanity’s understanding of reality through many different formats. We’ve seen the changes that theater has gone through and continues to do so, adapting to encapsulate the reality of modern times and tell stories that grab attention and bring us, the audience, into the world. Quantum Theatre’s production of 10 Out of 12 does exactly this. A meta script brought to life through immersive blocking, mixed with sound design that makes the audience feel that they’re in the booth, 10 Out of 12 is a masterclass in what theater today can be.
10 Out of 12 — the working and break hours in a day prescribed by union rules — celebrates the unsung behind-the-scenes heroes who make sure the magic happens. It’s also a time when mundane, often funny conversations flow through headphones, bored or boorish actors stir up trouble, along with the emergence of old wounds and outside distractions.
Disruptions abound, with those 10 hours proving to be necessary if ever the doors will open on opening night, as they did on Friday, April 3, for Quantum Theatre’s production of Anne Washburn’s laugh-out-loud and often maddening play, now at Mellon Institute.
Having the audience wear headphones and be in on every conversation worked beautifully, judging by the laughter all around me. Simple instructions at the entry were all we needed to be in on the unseen action.
In Quantum Theatre’s “10 Out of 12,” the audience is privy to what goes on onstage, behind the scenes and in the booth during the technical rehearsal for the play with the play.
In the year that was, the future of three companies takes center stage, Saige Smith hits a series of high notes, “The Shark Is Broken” goes swimmingly for barebones, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company delivers August Wilson triple play, Karla Boos announces Quantum exit, Arts Landing is readied for its closeup, and much, much more.
An effervescent brew of curiosity and creativity personified, Karla Boos is a risk-taker in the risky business of theater. For 35 years, the founder and artistic director of Quantum Theatre has been a driving force of originality for the region’s arts scene. Boos will be relinquishing her role at the end of 2026, after arriving in 1990 with Pedro Paramo, an anticipated one-off project, based on the short novel by Mexican author Juan Rulfo.
Oh, the places she would go, and take adventurous theaters along for the ride.
Call Board News and Notes: MCG Jazz’s Marty Ashby Honored, Ticket Scams, Resonance Works, Front Porch Cabaret, New Hazlett Premiere, Quantum’s Enron and More
So much of the play “Enron” is true to life, that to call it a dark comedy, you must emphasize dark, or as a cautionary tale, a better emphasis would be: beware. Quantum Theatre is retelling the tale right on time for the demon season, with a compelling, kinetic staging of the Lucy Prebble play that looks back on the downfall of a corporate giant. The Texas-based energy company was known to all who lived through the turn of the 20th century for its national “Ask Why” campaign, which portrayed Enron as a pioneering, innovative energy and business company. It was all smoke and mirrors, laid bare in the compelling production, a collaboration with Attack Theatre.
Director Kyle Haden on Quantum Theatre Production, New Role at Pittsburgh Public, and CMU ColLABo. By SHARON EBERSON The Downtown parkway ramp spills onto Grant Street with a skyward view of One Oxford Centre, the aluminum, glass and granite skyscraper… Read More ›
This is the sixth edition of oSP’s Call Board, as we continue to explore fresh ways to share what’s happening across the Greater Pittsburgh performing arts scene. On Tuesday, we published our annual season roundup — more than 200 events… Read More ›
