New Productions Of Shaw and Sartre Kickoff A Salvation And Damnation Repertory For Quintessence Theatre Group

Quintessence Theatre Group launches Season XIV of epic theatre with George Bernard Shaw’s stinging comedy Major Barbara and Jean-Paul Sartre’s fierce take on the afterlife, No Exit. Quintessence is Northwest Philadelphia’s award-winning classic theatre company, and the two productions will be performed on a rotating schedule creating a masterful repertory of “Salvation and Damnation.”  

“Our country continues to be in a state of soul searching and turmoil as we rebuild our lives post pandemic. Quintessence offers up the comedic and philosophical genius of Shaw and Sartre to assist in re-tuning our moral compass, by asking what we as urban dwelling 21st century sophisticats believe when it comes to our personal salvation, and the risks of our actions sending us to hell. A genre of theatre unto himself, Shaw continues to be one of Quintessence’s most popular playwrights. Following blockbuster productions of Arms and the Man and Saint Joan, and a famous four hour and a half staged reading of Man and Superman, we are eager to welcome all present and future Shavians back to Quintessence. Be it Becket, Gogol, Kafka or Ionesco, Quintessence has triumphed in its stagings of existential masterpieces. Sartre is often experienced through the lens of a mid twentieth century translation - Quintessence is honored to present a new translation, hewing as close as possible to ferocity and poeticism of the original French,” said Artistic Director, Alex Burns. 

Quintessence Artistic Director Alex Burns has been granted permission by the estate of Jean-Paul Sartre to translate the original French text of “No Exit” for this exclusive production.  

Burns added, “As theatre companies across America fight valiantly to rebuild their patron base post COVID, we present Shaw and Sartre, because in very different ways, their plays transformed the theatrical medium, and made the theatre an essential art form for their culture in their own time. Both writers understood the tools of the playwright, the need for the theatre to exist as a place to engage society in complex debates over existence. They were also both showmen, and knew how to create wildly entertaining theatre. The result was explosive and altered the course of western civilization. Revisiting these works in a time of reflection and change is both a privilege and a necessity.”

“One of the greatest questions the theatre can help us to explore is that of our predetermined fate versus our free will. In Shaw’s father daughter comedy, the power of religious faith is levied against the power of military might, and the force of classical poetry. This competing triumvirate questions which of the three life forces is most able to transform society and lead it towards salvation.”

“Many popular TV shows have imagined life after death. These different visions of what happens in the afterlife have captured the imagination of generations. But Sartre still corners the market with his groundbreaking and harrowing dramatization of the human soul in damnation. Returning to the philosophical underpinnings of the existentialist movement, Sartre takes a modern and humorous approach to the idea of “fire and brimstone” that you will never forget.” 

The performance schedule is:

Major Barbara

By George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Alex Burns
September 13-October 21

Pay-What-You-Can is Wed., September 13th
Opening Night is September 20
Previews are September 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, 2023
There are student matinees at 11AM on September 28, and October 4 and 18.

In repertory with:

No Exit

By  Jean-Paul Sartre
Directed by Alex Burns

September 27-October 28

Pay-What-You-Can is Wed., September 27
Previews are September 27, 29 and October 6
Opening Night is October 11
There are student matinees at 11AM on October 5, 11, and 25.
 

Pay-What-You-Can performances are available by phone reservation or at the door. Tickets can be purchased starting at $21 per ticket as 6-, 5-, and 4-show Preview Subscriptions, Anytime Subscriptions, Opening Night Subscriptions, and 10-Trip Tickets. Individual show tickets may be purchased starting at $25. Discounts are available for groups, seniors, students and educators, active military, youth and industry. Seating is General Admission with Reserved Premium upgrades available for $10 per ticket. Tickets are available at the 24-hour online Box Office at QTGREP.org, or by calling Mon-Fri, noon-5 PM at 215-987-4400, ext. 1, or emailing BoxOffice@QTGREP.org.  

Quintessence has built an ensemble of Philadelphia-based QTG favorites and newcomers for both plays. In Major Barbara: Marcia Saunders* (QTG’s Mary Poppins, Oliver! My Fair Lady) plays Lady Britomart/Rummy Mitchens; Paul Parente* (founding member of Commonwealth Classics Company) plays Undershaft; Melody Ladd* (QTG’s The Playboy of the Western World and The Synge Triptych) plays Barbara Undershaft; J. Hernandez* (QTG’s King Lear, Waiting for Godot) plays Adolphus Cusins. Lee Cortopassi (QTG’s Waiting for Lefty, King Lear) plays Stephen Undershaft/Bill Walker; Gabriel W. Elmore (Man of La Mancha, Delaware Theatre Company) plays Charles Lomax/Snobby Price; Aneesa Neibauer (QTG’s Love’s Labor's Lost and Wilde Tales) plays Sarah Undershaft/Jenny Hill; Paul Guerin (Three Sisters, Hedgerow Theater) plays Morrison/Mr. Baines/Bilton; and Monroe Barrick (QTG’s Waiting for Lefty) plays Peter Shirley/Factory Worker/Policeman. 

Four actors from the Major Barbara cast will also perform in No Exit. In No Exit:  Melody Ladd plays Inez; J.  Hernandez plays Garcin;  Aneesa Neibauer plays Estelle; and Gabriel W. Elmore plays the Valet.

In addition to directing both shows, Burns is designing the set. Ellen Moore is the Lighting Designer. Summer Lee Jack is the Costume Designer for Major Barbara. Aaron Mastin is the Costume Designer for No Exit.  Curtis Coyote is the Props Master for Major Barbara. Leonard Kelly is the Dialect Coach. John “J.P.” Pollard is the Stage Manager for both productions. 

Would you accept the money? In Major Barbara, a billionaire arms dealer offers to donate funds to save his daughter’s Salvation Army shelter. She refuses her father’s blood money, despite her colleagues' protests. A deal is struck that both must spend a day at the other’s place of work. One of George Bernard Shaw’s greatest comedies unfolds, posing the question - what is the market value of a human soul? 

In No Exit, two women and a man die and are guided by a valet to a well-appointed drawing room with no windows, no mirrors, and a locked door. All three know that they are not in heaven, yet are surprised by the comfort of their new surroundings and are unable to close their eyes. Sartre’s existential dark comedy proves, “Hell is other people.” 

Founded in 2009, the award-winning Quintessence Theatre Group is dedicated to bringing epic works of classic drama and literature to the Contemporary Stage. 

As Philadelphia’s text-based, actor-focused repertory theatre, Quintessence re-envisions the classics to inspire our community to consider what is essential in theatre and in human nature. 

Now in its 14th season at the Sedgwick Theater in Philadelphia’s Northwest neighborhood of Mt. Airy, Quintessence is led by Artistic Director, Alex Burns and Executive Director, Grace Grillet.  

*denotes a member of Actors’ Equity. 

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