Quantum Voyages
Conceived and written by Smitha Vishveshwara and Latrelle Bright with music by Stephen Taylor
Colwell Playhouse at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Saturday, April 19, 2025
7:30pm
CASCaDe and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts celebrate the UNESCO 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology with a re-envisioned performance of Quantum Voyages, a performance piece conceived and written by University of Illinois faculty Smitha Vishveshwara (Physics) and Latrelle Bright (Theatre Studies), with music by Stephen Taylor (Composition-Theory). Quantum Voyages premiered in 2018 at the University of Illinois in celebration of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Anthony Leggett’s 80th birthday, traveled to Boston for the APS Conference in 2019 and shifted to a pandemic Zoom production in 2020. The production recently returned from Anaheim where it previewed at the Quantum Jubilee.
Guided by Sapienza, the spirit of knowledge, two voyagers, Terra and Akash, enter the microscopic realm of atomic landscapes and quantum conundrums to discover a magnificent and baffling world foreign to everyday human experience. In moments of strife, quantum sages—real-life physicists—briefly appear to share their wisdom.
Staging/Narrative Director – Latrelle Bright
Science/Narrative Director – Smitha Vishveshwara
Music Composition – Stephen Taylor
Movement Director – Avi Pellegrinetti
Stage Manager – Gabriela Mendoza
Assistant Director – Jessica Elliott
Project Manager – Rebecca Wiltfong
PERFORMERS
Sapienza – Aneta Lee
Terra – Charlotte Howard-Check
Akash – Aarya Mehta
Quantum Ensemble – Jon Faw, Jason Miles, Avi Pellegrinetti, Aubrey Pineda, Carissa Yau
Quantum Sages – Gina Lorenz, David Campbell (Anaheim), Sir Tony Leggett, Julio Barreiro-Guerrero (Anaheim), Brian DeMarco, Camille Bernal-Choban, Philip Phillips
Musicians – Na’ilah Ali, Xavier Davenport, Jason Finkelman, Jake Metz, Stephen Taylor
Photos by James Gross from the Saturday, March 15th performance at The Grove at Anaheim.