Quantum Theatre’s production of Scenes From an Execution stars Lisa Velten Smith and a cast of 10, including Robert Ramirez and Bria Walker-Rhoze.
onStage – Quantum Theatre’s next destination production will bring audiences to Allentown for Scenes From an Execution, directed by Andrew William Smith and starring Lisa Velten Smith.
To conclude a record-breaking season that has included Hamlet at Carrie Furnaces and The Flying Lovers of Vitbesk at Rodef Shalom Congregation, Quantum takes a cast of 10 to Abiding Missions at 731 Excelsior Street, April 5 – 27, 2024.
Andrew William Smith, previously featured as an actor in a handful of Quantum productions, directs the Howard Barker play that originally aired on BBC Radio in 1984 with Glenda Jackson. The great British actress reprised the role of the artist Galactia for the stage version that debuted in 1990.
Scenes From an Execution tells the tale of rebellious 16th-century Venetian painter Galactia, who is commissioned by the Doge of Venice to do a mural commemorating a military victory. In the Venice of 1571, notes Quantum Theatre, “The Church and State are aligned authorities. The Doge and his brother, the Chief Admiral, are characters named (satirically) Urgentino and Suffici.”
The work “examines the relationship between art and power with humor and sensuality … as well as the collision of personal ambition and moral responsibility.”
Quantum invites audiences to ponder: “How do we get images of war today? Who ‘curates’ them and for what purposes; how accurate are they; do they affect us? What’s different or the same about gender’s intersection with art, war?”
Award-winning actress Lisa Velten Smith returns to Quantum (Plano; Far Away) as Galactia. She also has performed with Pittsburgh Public Theater and City Theatre, and on Broadway in After Miss Julie, as well as in TV and films. Smith was named Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s 2019 Performer of the Year, and is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.
The cast also includes Robert Ramirez, head of the CMU School of Drama, making his Quantum and Pittsburgh acting debut as Doge Urgentino. A familiar face on Pittsburgh stages but new to Quantum is Bria Walker-Rhoze, who plays art critic Gina Rivera. Walker-Rhoze is an assistant professor of acting at CMU, and an artistic associate at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in Evanston, Illinois.
The cast of new and familiar faces also includes Hansel Tan as Carpeta, Galactia’s younger lover; Amy Landis as Sketchbook; Jerreme Rodriguez as Suffici; plus Mari Garzon-Toro, Martin Giles, Randy Kovitz and Leyla Davis.
The creative team features newcomer to Pittsburgh, scenic designer Chelsea Warren, as well as Angela Vesco (costumes), C. Todd Brown (lighting) and Steve Shapiro (sound).
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Scenes From an Execution runs 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, April 5-27, 2024, at Abiding Missions, 731 Excelsior Street (a block off East Warrington Avenue). For tickets and special events during the production, visit https://www.quantumtheatre.com/execution/.
