Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – The Pittsburgh theatre company Quantum Theatre on Wednesday announced its 2024-25 season, which features three plays in August, November and February. One, “The Return of Benjamin Lay,” was written by a University of Pittsburgh professor.
Quantum is a small company with a budget of around $1 million that holds its performances in different spaces throughout the city. In September, the company hired a new executive director, Julie DeSeyn, who has been working with artistic director Karla Boos, who founded the company in 1990.
During the 2023-24 season, Quantum bucked the post-pandemic trend to enjoy its “most successful season in its history,” according to a spokesperson. The company increased its subscribers to 635.
The next season begins in August with “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” which runs from Aug. 2-25. It is the great playwright Eugene O’Neill’s final work. The play focuses on family and the sacrifices family members make for each other and will take place outdoors at Longue Vue Club in Verona.
Next up is “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (An out of the box Experience)” on Nov. 1-24. This film adaptation of a German carnival and hypnotism and murder will take place in Pittsburgh’s iconic Union Trust Building.
Finally, “The Return of Benjamin Lay” takes place on Jan. 31-Feb. 23 at the Braddock Carnegie Library, the first of Andrew Carnegie’s U.S. libraries.
This play was written by Pitt history professor Marcus Rediker, who learned about the 18th-century American abolitionist while researching his 2017 book, “The Fearless Benjamin Lay” (Beacon Press, $20).
“The Return of Benjamin Lay” was staged in the summer of 2023 at the Finborough Theatre in London, England.
