Quantum Theatre charts 2-mile ‘odyssey’ through Schenley Park
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Quantum Theatre is planning a 2-mile odyssey along the trails of Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park, through which visitors can access an interactive audio production of “OK Odysseus.”
Five Greek columns will be placed throughout the park, at which Quantum Theatre artists and staff will act as guides.
The journey will begin at Panther Hollow Lake. To locate the first column, guests can park by Phipps Conservatory and proceed down the stairs behind the Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center, or in the small lot off Boundary Street near the beginning of the Junction Hollow trail and cross the railroad tracks.
At each location, participants will scan the QR code on the top of the pedestal using a smartphone camera function or type in the link to hear selections from Homer’s original text of “The Odyssey,” in a classic translation by Robert Fagles.
These snippets will be followed by contemporary readings from Quantum’s forthcoming contemporary adaptation by playwright Jay Ball, “highlighting the difference 2,500 years can make in our understanding of heroism,” according to a release.
Instructions also will be given for finding the next column.
Quantum will produce its original adaptation of Homer’s epic next summer at the Schenley Park Ice Rink.
“Jay Ball used the recent translation of ‘The Odyssey’ by Emily Wilson as a point of departure,” said Karla Boos, Quantum founding artistic director. “She gave the ancient words an encounter with a 21st-century value system, and Jay nudged the poem even further into the immediate, fraught, present.
”We hope our guests will enjoy our beautiful parks as they reflect on what it means to be a hero and how this ancient story still resonates across millennia,” she said.
The “OK Odysseus” journey will be available in the park throughout October.
“When it became clear that an ‘Odyssey’ would have to be postponed into 2021 as a matter of safety, we still wanted to find a way to offer art in these spaces which are so special to us and to Quantum’s history,” said Quantum Executive Director Stewart Urist. “‘OK Odysseus’ was the perfect answer — a safe, socially distanced experience that can be experienced in-person, that showcases the interrogation of classic text and contemporary feel that we love so much in Jay’s script.
“We’ve been grateful for many years of successful partnerships with Citiparks,” he added.
Now in its 30th season, Quantum Theatre aims to produce intimate and sophisticated theatrical experiences exploring universal truths in uncommon settings that reflect Pittsburgh’s character, history and architecture.