Vengeance, ambition… a ghost? Quantum Theatre begins its 2023-2024 season with a rock ‘n’ roll-infused retelling of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays: Hamlet. Running for the month of August, Quantum invites guests to the historic Carrie Blast Furnaces site for a performance melding the past with the future.
Throughout the month, the theatre will present different viewing experiences, including the Quantum Quaff, where a preshow reception will feature thoughtfully curated wines and food pairings, and Quantum on the Couch, where following the performance, Psychiatrist Dr. Manuel Reich will host a discussion on the psychological issues raised in Hamlet and the play’s characters.
Ahead of the initial show, TABLE Magazine chatted with Quantum Theatre’s Artistic Director Karla Boos about the relevancy of Hamlet in the modern day.
Why did you choose to open the season with Hamlet?
I’m making works that have long daunted me — if I don’t climb this mountain now, when? And I knew that I’d gather amazing people around me, some of whom go back to my earliest days with Shakespeare; some really fresh new talents, and together we’d climb it.
Why should people see this classic, tragic play now?
I think that after all we’ve been through (and are still going through, creaking, splitting, necessary societal change to address global problems), we need great art, great thinking that has endured, more than ever. And we need to sit together and have common experiences of it.
For those who have never been to a performance at Carrie Blast Furnaces, what can they expect?
An amazing monument to our past and future, weirdly at the same time. An ability to marvel at something we once built, and find it animated and full of meaning for the present.