NEXTpittsburgh – Grab your passport, guise yourself in 1920s regalia and prepare for a transporting and decadent evening with Quantum Theatre’s summer production of Tamara.
From August 7th through September 14th at Rodef Shalom Congregation, Quantum Theatre, known for its innovative approach and site-specific productions, presents showgoers with a not-to-miss opportunity to follow the actors as they perform the seminal play throughout the historic Fifth Avenue building.
Imagine this: It is 1927 in Mussolini’s Italy. You arrive at Rodef Shalom, outfitted for the production as the great home of Italian nationalist poet Gabriele d’Annunzio. You are given a glass of champagne and are greeted by ten characters, weekend partygoers in the house. One of these guests is Tamara de Lempicka, a Polish artist who influenced the Art Deco movement. As the party begins, you assume the role of a guest as you choose to follow one of the characters throughout different areas of the house, learning their secrets and stories along the way.
Carefully pieced together and intricately timed, all of the guests will come together at critical times in the Atrium, Oratorio, or Dining Room of the house.
At intermission, the characters will head into the Italian town for lunch while attendees will enjoy an Intermezzo dinner on the terrace of Rodef Shalom. For each of the six weeks of the production, Quantum Theatre has partnered with a different local restaurant or caterer, including E2, Above & Beyond Catering, Open Bottle Bistro, All in Good Taste Productions, Casbah and Stagioni.
Over dinner, you and your fellow partygoers will have the opportunity to discuss what you have seen and share information in order to understand what transpires between the historical characters by the end of the night.
Premiering for the first time locally and for the first time in the US since the early 1990s, Tamara was written by John Krizanc in 1981 and is directed by Quantum’s John Shepard. Over the next few weeks, Quantum anticipates some 2,500 guests for the highly anticipated US revival…
