Karla Boos, fonder and longime artistic director of Quantum Theatre, announces plans to retire

Quantum Theatre, a company that has challenged and delighted Pittsburgh theatergoers since its inception in 1990, will be looking for a new artistic director next year.

Karla Boos, founder and current holder of that position, has announced she will retire in December 2026. Before departing, Boos will be directing Quantum’s production of “The Tempest” at Carrie Furnace in August, as well as programming the company’s 37th season, which will take place through 2026 and 2027.

“Some people just can’t imagine retiring, but I’m not one of those people,” Boos said. “I think that life is full of wonderful chapters.”

Quantum is known for its site-specific productions of new works and innovative twists on older works. Over the course of Quantum’s 36 seasons, Boos has produced all 106 staged works, directed 33, acted in 17 and written or adapted nine as original works for the theater. She has pushed Quantum to be experimental, immersive, collaborative, progressive and exciting.

Boos founded Quantum after living in Los Angeles, where she earned an MFA at CalArts and worked as an actor in experimental theater.

While she is looking forward to her next chapter, there’s another reason why Boos has chosen next year as her time to step away.

“There are younger people who have a different point of view. Of course they do — they’ve lived in a different world, in a sense, from mine, and they should be given a chance. Their time has come, and older people have to get out of the way for them. I really feel that.”

This thought has been in Boos’ mind for some time, she said. As a result, she has taken on less of a driving role in the process over the past couple of years, allowing younger artists and creatives to shape Quantum’s productions with her support.

The 2025-26 season has been a smashing success for Quantum so far.

The most recent production — “Enron,” which was staged at One Oxford Center in Downtown Pittsburgh — sold out its entire run, even adding an extra performance. That comes after this summer’s well-attended and critically-acclaimed production of “Seagull,” a new adaptation of the Chekhov classic, which was mounted beautifully on Chatham University’s campus.

A search for the new artistic director will be launched early next year and supported by the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management. But Boos is prepared to accede the driver’s seat in that search as well.

“It’s not what I’m looking for, it’s what Quantum is looking for,” she said. “I hope local people really go for it. I’m ready to answer questions and especially be a cheerleader for Quantum to the final candidates. I want to express to them how great it’s been to have the support to follow my inclinations, not knowing where they’ll lead.”

“In this day and age, it feels like there’s a lot of panicking about audiences and people thinking that the answer to that is maybe a more conservative or more commercial product. I think the only answer is for artists to go deep into themselves and do what is terrifying,” she added.

But don’t ask Boos what’s next for her — besides spending time with her two granddaughters and her daughter, she is taking this next stage as it comes.

“I know you’re supposed to know how you’re going to spend your retirement. I’ve been such a risk-taker in my work, but maybe my life needs a little injection of that. I look forward to being able to do new things that are completely unknown to me, like I’ve done in my work.”