QUINTESSENCE THEATRE COMPANY
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Mission Statement
Quintessence Theatre Group is dedicated to bringing epic works of classic drama and literature to the stage.
About This Cause
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. CLASSICS FORWARD >>> We believe it is imperative that classical theatre remains a vibrant and present part of contemporary American culture. As part of our heritage, classic stories should be revisited and remembered so that we better understand our past and its relevancy to our future. Quintessence is committed to exploring the classics through a contemporary lens. We call this “progressive classics” or “classics forward.” We do not modernize or rewrite the text. Rather, we allow for our contemporary aesthetics and social values to engage with the play. REPERTORY THEATRE >>> Quintessence aspires to be a regional destination for classical repertory theatre. For hundreds of years, plays were produced in rotating repertory, a format which allowed for an ensemble of artists to present multiple plays in rotation on alternate evenings. Like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Stratford Festival, people make pilgrimages to experience a weekend full of classical theatre presented in repertory. One of Quintessence’s most successful repertories was the Devils and Saints Repertory: Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus presented in repertory with George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. The combination of plays from two vastly different writers inspired a remarkable response from audiences and reviewers alike. This producing model not only creates a destination cultural experience, but also provides longer employment contracts for artists, decreases rehearsal costs, allows for the creation and maturation of an acting ensemble, and prevents the performances from becoming staid or stale due to repetition. Quintessence has found that audiences who attend one production in repertory return to experience the other production in order to see the same ensemble of artists tackle a different play. QUINTESSENCE IN THE CLASSROOM >>> Quintessence believes that the most challenging way for a young person to engage with a classic play is to read it as part of an academic assignment. Plays are to be experienced. In an age of streaming and recorded stage performance, Quintessence allows Philadelphia’s local primary, middle, high schools and universities to introduce their students to the classics through visceral live performance. Quintessence also offers classroom workshops with our actors to prepare students for the experience of the play and to understand the process of taking a classic play from the page to the stage. Quintessence Theatre is the only organization to receive the Public Citizens for Children and Youth’s Picasso Grant for three consecutive years of partnership with bringing the classical theatre to Parkway Northwest High School. QUINTESSENCE IN THE COMMUNITY >>> It is important for the wellbeing of a community to have a place to convene and share its collected stories. Philadelphia is one of America’s most vibrant and diverse cities. It is central to Quintessence’s mission to reflect our community in our audience and on our stage. In 2017, we expanded our definition of classic to include 20th century works including Beckett, O’Neill, Odets and nearly double our audience attendance with the addition of a holiday production of a classic musical. It is our belief that by producing popular world class theatre away from the Avenue of the Arts, Quintessence will enable Philadelphia to re-expand its vision of itself as a city of many great neighborhoods, not just a Center City cultural district. Quintessence is committed to its northwest Philadelphia home at the Sedgwick Theater and to being part of a vibrant and diverse community. The growth of our audience from throughout Philadelphia and the region shows that great professional theatre does not exist solely on the Avenue of the Arts.