Person of interest: Karla Boos of Quantum Theatre
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Karla Boos -- Preparing to stage "The Electric Baby" at the Waldorf School in Friendship.
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Karla Boos is the Bedouin of Pittsburgh's live theater scene. As founder and artistic director of the 22-year-old Quantum Theatre, she unpacks her metaphorical tent in nontraditional settings all over town -- basements, museums, abandoned industrial settings, parks, ravines.
The environment plays its own role in Quantum's original, provocative, quirky offerings, which range from world premieres ("Breakfast With Mugabe," "The Collected Works of Billy the Kid") to updated classics (a flamenco adaptation of "The Red Shoes").
Ms. Boos sometimes directs or acts, but she's always on the lookout for unusual sites with play potential. Preparations are under way to stage the world premiere of "The Electric Baby" at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh in Friendship. The show will run March 29-April 22.
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If I could pick any place in the city to stage a play, it would be ... the top of the U.S. Steel Tower, in the High Point Pittsburgh park that David Bear wants to build.
Most mornings I get up ... at 7, but I don't want to have to be anywhere until 10.
My favorite character in fiction is ... maybe the madwoman in the attic after reading "Wide Sargasso Sea" and in general falling in love with Jean Rhys.
My favorite official spot in the 'Burgh is ... the Mattress Factory.
My favorite unofficial spot is ... the defunct piers you can crawl onto and sit on along the Mon.
The toughest problem with outdoor performances is ... acoustics. Weather we embraced long ago. It's a privilege to get rained on with the theater-going people of Pittsburgh, and there are special rewards like sun breaking through clouds, gorgeous sunsets, mist, moon rises.
In high school I was ... very shy, into watching birds.
I would like to go back to ... the Perigord in France, and the Caribbean island of Dominica.
I'm most passionate about ... making art.
I'm surprisingly good at ... making pastry.
My guilty pleasure is ... riding a bike everywhere, even if I look like hell at meetings.
The words or phrases I most overuse: "I don't understand."
If I won the lottery tomorrow I'd ... probably still make theater, maybe solving problems with money instead of ingenuity.
Best piece of advice I've ever received: It'll take three years longer than you think.
First Published February 12, 2012 12:00 am
