Pop Filter Hot Pick: Quantum Theatre Turns 20 with World Premiere

On a very hot and humid May evening, Quantum Theatre invited its supporters, staff, board, and the local arts community to join them in toasting the company's auspicious 20th anniversary. As the vibrant crowd gathered to hear artistic director Karla Boos speak passionately about her work and the city, the event began to feel like an intimate dinner party with old friends.

Celebrating two decades of artistic bravery, Quantum is kicking off its new season with an ambitious world premiere and neighborhood initiative that places the company in even more compelling territory.

Based on the bestselling novel by famed Finnish writer Arto Paasilinna, The Howling Miller finds Boos reunited with long-time collaborator, director Peter Duschenes, who currently works with international company Platypus Theatre. The world premiere marks the first production in a year-long partnership during which Quantum will stage new works in targeted East End neighborhoods.
 
Penned by Paasilinna in 1981 and recently translated into English, The Howling Miller evokes a physical and psychological landscape populated by relentless light and bouts of darkness and shadow. What happens when a mysterious stranger arrives in a remote town in northern Finland? Find out as this larger-than-life being is questioned by the townspeople he encounters. Equal parts hero, howler, man, and myth, the protagonist's life reads like a metaphor for humanity.

Setting the Finnish fable in one of Pittsburgh's most beloved green spaces came naturally to Boos, who for two decades has animated local cemeteries, pools, parklands, and art galleries, with her staged works. "Quantum is totally into our relationship with nature in Pittsburgh. We love bringing people into our amazing city parks; they are really wild and huge," says Boos, who loves the humor and darkness inherent in the play. "It feels very right to start our 20th anniversary season by making a new work that's really ambitious. It's idiosyncratic and quirky in ways that are very suitable for me."

As part of its ongoing partnership with Pittsburgh Citiparks, Quantum has transformed the topologically challenging grounds of the Frick Environmental Center into surreal Lapland. L.A.-based actor Tristan Farmer, a CMU graduate, stars as the miller Gunnar Huttunen, while Melinda Helfrich, tackles the role of 4-H agricultural advisor Sanelma Käyrämö.  
 
On July 29, join Quantum's extended family for a special pre-show party. Bonus? Regent Square and Squirrel Hill residents receive a special discount.

Extending its reach beyond the stage, Quantum is introducing an architectural element to its new season. To help identify the nomadic productions as they shift from venue to venue, the company is commissioning designs for what it dubs the "Quantum Theatre Front Porch." Have ideas for a transportable, collapsible and theatrical porch, tent or yurt? Download the RFQ here.

Frick Environmental Center is located at 2005 Beechwood Blvd. Purchase tickets now.