Listen here to our recent interview on WKNO’s Checking on the Arts (~21 minutes):
We have several exciting pieces of news to share. First of all, after several years of operating as an informal partnership, we recently decided to incorporate Quark, and we are now a fully registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit! That means that donations to Quark are tax-deductible if you itemize your taxes at the end of the year.
In conjunction with this news, we are running a fundraiser. We conducted a crowdfunding campaign in 2015, when we staged Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape thinking it was a one-off production, but since then we’ve operated entirely on ticket sales and occasional funds from our own pockets. Unfortunately, sales haven’t been quite enough to keep things running, which leaves us with two options: Either raise ticket prices, or ask for donations.
We do want to stress that all funds go directly to production costs. When possible, we’ve given our casts a small stipend, but Quark’s founders, board, etc. receive no income from any of this.
Our fundraiser has a few possible goals, depending on how much money we raise:
- $1,000: We can keep producing shows
- $3,000: All tickets for the next year are $10
- $6,000: All tickets for the next year are free
We hope you’ll consider donating. You can do so at this link.
Our final piece of news is that we are glad to announce our fourth season!
September 2019 will see the Memphis premiere of Will Eno’s Wakey, Wakey, which the New York Times called “A glowingly dark, profoundly moving new play.” It’s a funny, sad, tragic, comic examination of life and the leaving of it. In the first line of the show, Guy, the protagonist, seems to rouse from a nap and says “Is it now? I thought I had more time.”
And then we’re off to an examination of Guy’s life as he comes to the end of it. But it’s not a wake we’ve come to attend, but rather a celebration of Guy’s life, and our lives, too. A funny, thoughtful, at times tearful examination of what it means to be human.
Our production in March of 2020 will be Caryl Churchill’s A Number. When an adult son confronts his father about the reality behind his existence and identity, a dark world of truths, half-truths and lies is exposed…and nothing will ever be the same. Because the son learns that he is but one of a number of clones, each with his own distinct personality and life. When multiple versions of a person exist, how can he be sure the love of his father is real?
The New York Times called A Number “A gripping dramatic consideration of what happens to
autonomous identity in a world where people can be cloned.”
Both shows are firmly in the Quark tradition, with two actors and a minimal set. As always, our focus is on the acting, the story and the audience experience.