Quantum Poetics, a science experiment for the stage.
'Science needs art to frame the mystery, but art needs science so not everything is a mystery.'
-Jonah Lehrer, Proust Was a Neuroscientist "
Laboratory theatre meets laboratory science in Stolen Chair's latest “unholy hybrid,” Quantum Poetics: A Science Experiment for the Stage. Setting out to prove the existence of his creations, God, a god, enlists the support of a quantum physicist, a 19th century children's book author, a 13th century mystic nun, a 16th century alchemist, a 7-year old girl, and, stepping straight from the pages of a storybook (or movie musical), Lancelot and Guinevere, taking the audience on a time-travelling adventure through the multiverse. Impossible paradoxes and cognitive dissonance abound in this Escher-esque philosophical romp.
Production History
Premiering June 2010
@ The Connelly Theater
Written by Kiran Rikhye
Directed by Jon Stancato
Dramaturgy by Emily Otto
Set & Lights by David Bengali
Costumes by Beth Goldenberg
Stage Management, Props & Postcard by Aviva Meyer
Featuring David Berent, Liz Eckert, Sarah Malinda Engelke, Liza Wade Green, Chris Hale, Miriam Lipner, Timothy McCown Reynolds, Noah Schultz
Created in conjunction with Stolen Chair's Community Supported Theatre (CST)
The production stars returning Stolen Chair veterans David Berent, Liz Eckert, Liza Wade Green (Gemini Collisionworks’ George Bataille’s Bathrobe), Chris Hale, Timothy McCown Reynolds (Untiled Theatre #61’s Rudolf II), and Noah Schultz, welcoming Sarah Engelke (Banana Bag & Bodice's Sandwich) and Miriam Lipner, with production design by David Bengali. The production was made possible, in part, by the Nancy Quinn Fund and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. It was created in Stolen Chair's Community Supported Theatre (CST). Drawing inspiration from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Stolen Chair’s pilot CST brought theatre-goers into the studio with theatre-makers each month for the entire development process, offering work-in-progress sharings of Quantum Poetics paired with thematically linked cultural activities, like an intimate talk with quantum physicist Gabriel Cwilich, a screening with science cartoonist Odd Todd, and the science-themed Atoms & Eves Valentine's party. The CST is made possible by The Field's Economic Revitalization for Performing Artists (ERPA) program, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation's 2008 Cultural Innovation Fund.
Press for Quantum Poetics
"When a nun, a little girl, her older self, a writer, and God get together to prove that they exist, their puzzle gets puzzlier and their search turns very, very funny. Stolen Chair's 'Quantum Poetics' is metaphysics with a big fat grin."
- Robert Krulwich, Co-host of "WNYC's Radiolab
"Very engaging...quite wonderful"
-Tim Maudlin, Author of Truth and Paradox and The Metaphysics within Physics
"[M]erges the fields...in intelligent and playful ways...The effect is mind-bending, down to earth, and funny."
-Jo Ann Rosen, NYtheatre.com
Quantum Poetics was developed in conjunction with Stolen Chair's Community Supported Theatre (CST). During the season, nytheatre.com's Jo Ann Rosen, participated in the CST as an “embedded journalist”, filing reports on the nytheatre blog after each event:
"Rikhye’s language is rich; her ideas are big. It is a privilege to have access to her writing method. For her part, it can’t be easy to share this part of the process, however sophisticated the membership. She must have nerves of steel and a firm grip on her imagination."
Jo Ann's Reports:
Previewing the CST
CST Kick-off
Movie Night
Professor Gabriel Cwilich
Quantum Quartoons
Odd Todd & Staged Reading
BINGO Night & Open-Rehearsal
Quantum Poetics - The Workshop Production
Production Photos:
Rehearsal Photos:
Photos by Aviva Meyer, 2007
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Research
Click here for a .pdf for suggested reading from our original research packet