Quantum Theater opens it Neighborhood Initiative with their production of “When the Rain Stops Falling,” featuring an all-local cast. They invited a small group of patrons and bloggers to their technical rehearsal and allowed us the chance to walk around, take pictures, and talk with some of the cast and crew. Sadly, I didn’t grab the names of any of the other bloggers (I was off looking around) except for Joe and Betsy, but they’ll be posting about it soon I imagine.
I am really excited about the Neighborhood Initiative as a way to engage the local community and as a form of outreach to not only theater goers and patrons, but entire neighborhoods. I’ll be interested to see where else Quantum will be going over the next 18 months. During the run of “Rain,” you can stop by Church Brew Works for a special three-course meal.
This production takes place in the Iron City Brewery, a sign with the letter Q marks where to turn off Liberty onto Sassafras Street. The location, simply put, is awesome. We got to explore a little bit beyond where the production is, which was a lot of fun. The space itself is heated, and a bit cavernous, offering seating for 150 at each performance on custom built risers (a tradition of Quantum). The set is extremely wide, which puts the audience off center, but I really liked the affect. Other performances of “Rain” around the world have featured rotating stages or giant water machines, making it rain. Iron City Brewery offers not only the room to create one large set and giant set pieces, but the projection of stars onto the exposed insulation of the walls and ceiling, creating a beautiful scene.
Being a technical rehearsal, lights and sounds were being cued and adjusted, and it was great to see the actors interact with the small audience as things were fiddled with. There was one stinkbug that got shooed away, and a scene was restarted at one point as we waited for a train to pass.
Set design by Tony Ferrieri
That is one of the hallmarks of Quantum though, being outside of normal theater spaces offers a chance for the world to interact and be part of the production, for good or for ill. I couldn’t help but hope for rain during at least some of the performances. The sound and smell of a rainstorm I think would be a wonderful addition to the already water-centric piece.
“When the Rain Stops Falling” opens Thursday and runs through November 21, and special nights with receptions and discussions have been planned. Learn more and buy tickets online here. Here is the official blurb to wet (oh, the pun) your appetite:
Seven people, bound together by blood and circumstance, share a story that stretches across time and place, from London in 1959 to the coast of Australia in 2039. Alone in a torrential downpour, one man finds himself on the receiving end of this legacy of secrecy, betrayal… and love. A fish falls from the sky. And the mysteries of his past begin to unfold.
A special thanks to Quantum Theater for allowing me to come to their rehearsal, poke around and interact with cast a crew, it was an absolute blast. Check out the rest of my pictures here.
