Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 7:30PM |  18°
MENU
Advertisement
Lisa Velten-Smith and Andrew William Smith work on hats in Quantum Theatre’s production of “Far Away.”
1
MORE

Quantum's latest production shows dystopia may not be so 'Far Away'

Heather Mull Photography

Quantum's latest production shows dystopia may not be so 'Far Away'

There isn’t a whole lot going on in Quantum Theatre’s digital production of Caryl Churchill’s “Far Away.” On the other hand, everything is happening in this play.

The production, filmed with elaborate, realistic sets and striking visual design, brings viewers into a world not unlike our own. An unnamed woman (the credits reveal her name is Joan) witnesses a shocking occurrence outside a house in a city’s hinterlands. An older woman (presumably her aunt) seems not to want to discuss it until she decides to trust her with the bitter truth.

The play, directed by filmmaker Joe Seamans and Quantum artistic director Karla Boos, is broken into three sections: the country house, a milliner workshop and subsequent parade of hats, and a return to the house years later. Churchill seems intent on having nearly all the action happen … far away from the rest of the play. It’s the oblique references and subtle gaslighting of characters that beckons viewers to contemplate what kind of civilization we live in today. The horrors are frequently mentioned but seldom seen.

Advertisement

These characters are forced to consider that nowhere is as safe as they thought it would be, and neither computer programmers nor car salesmen nor cats nor grass or even water itself can be considered free of allegiance. It’s the disturbing endpoint of extreme partisanship and feels eerily reminiscent of the Capitol insurrection, pandemic, extreme weather and gross injustices happening just outside our own workplaces.

A lineup of colorful hats in Quantum Theatre's  production of "Far Away."
Tyler Dague
Milliners create out-there hats for Quantum Theatre's 'Far Away'

Lisa Velten Smith, a mainstay of Pittsburgh theater, is not given a lot to work with here, but perhaps that’s the point. As Joan, she serves as a blank canvas while sinister forces and brutal decisions swirl just outside the window. Smith appears almost childlike in her approach to the first scene as she tries to put together the pieces of what she has seen.

Eventually Joan becomes a milliner for a surreal, unsparing contest and works with fellow hatmaker Todd (Andrew William Smith, her real-life husband), who is disillusioned by a boss exploiting his craftsmanship. Joan seems apprehensive about Todd’s eagerness to fight the powers that be, yet she’ll smile at him over a work table of hats meant for a cruel spectacle.

Smith taps into the futility Todd ultimately feels, soldiering on when he’d rather rest, just for a day, with the one he loves. His co-worker offers this chilling line, “When you just step in, you don’t know what’s going to happen.” Joan is no child anymore.

Advertisement

In spite of the camera-ready gravitas the couple provides, the real star of this production is Ingrid Sonnichsen, who nails the English playwright’s turns of phrase as Aunt Harper. She completely loses herself in the role of a haggard survivor with plenty of outside intel but few resources to defend herself. That, too, seems prescient for a play written in 2000. We have access to more information than ever, but verifying it becomes harder and harder. So much for the journalist mentioned in the play as a potential force for good.

The other major draw for “Far Away” is the production design, led by Quantum’s Hank Bullington and scenic designer Kelsey Garrett. The country house feels like it’s been lived in for decades, while the workshop seems just right for the isolating, dystopian crafting on display. Curiously, the hat parade scene seems like “The Hunger Games” if it were directed by YouTube musical reimaginer Todrick Hall. Lighting designer Sydney Asselin also deserves plaudits for creating the washed-out, overcast sky of the third scene.

As the three characters enter and exit the frame and sometimes obscure the view, director of photography Mark Knobil gives “Far Away” a claustrophobic feel that echoes the theme of evil closing in on the trio. In each scene’s beginning, viewers start out high above the location, and the camera slowly narrows into the setting, reminiscent of the opening to Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” The line between theater and film blurs to a point of unrecognizability in the third scene, which bodes well should Quantum decide to revisit such a hybrid format.

Seeing streets with familiar-looking cars and buildings in urban scenes at the workshop means for all this talk of distant tragedy, “Far Away '' is closer than one would like to think. Amid conversations of destruction and injustice without proper context, viewers become like Joan in the window, questioning what they saw but knowing what it likely means. Which side are you on?

“Far Away” is available on demand through March 7 at quantumtheatre.com. Tickets start at $10.

Tyler Dague: rdague@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1569 and on Twitter @rtdague.

First Published: February 20, 2021, 2:18 p.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
The campus of Columbia University on Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City's Manhattan borough
1
news
Trump administration gives schools a deadline to end DEI programs or risk losing federal money
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) is sacked by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens (21) at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland.
2
sports
Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers chat transcript: 02.18.25
Najee Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on before playing the Dallas Cowboys at Acrisure Stadium on October 06, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
3
sports
Joe Starkey’s mailbag: Will Najee Harris return, and how does he compare to Frank Pollard and Tim Worley?
Sidequest on 44th in Lawrenceville on Dec. 27, 2024.
4
a&e
Canceled show leads ex-Misfits singer Michale Graves to lash out about being purged from Pittsburgh
Head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith watch a receivers and defensive backs drill at Steelers Minicamp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex Thursday, June 13, 2024.
5
sports
Gerry Dulac: Next season’s major decisions loom this week for Mike Tomlin, Steelers staff
Lisa Velten-Smith and Andrew William Smith work on hats in Quantum Theatre’s production of “Far Away.”  (Heather Mull Photography)
Heather Mull Photography
Advertisement
LATEST ae
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story