Quantum Opens ‘Benjamin Lay’; ‘Unreconciled’ Opens at Barebones; Papadosio at Thunderbird (Fri., 1/31/25)

THE RETURN OF BENJAMIN LAY by Naomi Wallace and Marcus Rediker. Quantum Theatre. January 29 – February 23.

1) Benjamin Lay (1682-1759) was an English immigrant to Pennsylvania and an early, radical abolitionist. Raised in the peace-loving Quaker tradition, he wrote perhaps the first anti-slavery tract in the American colonies—a tract published by a fellow Benjamin, Mr. Franklin. Lay also harangued his fellow Quakers for their slaveholding and their initial failure to oppose the practice, often staging outrageous stunts to get his points across, and eventually was drummed out of the Quaker community. Now Pittsburgh’s Quantum Theatre presents the U.S. premiere of a play that debuted dramatically in London in 2023: The Return of Benjamin Lay. This one-man show imagines Lay returning to life today and arguing his case for the ongoing pursuit of justice, with the audience standing for the Quaker congregation that once expelled him. Written by playwright Naomi Wallace and Pitt history professor Marcus Rediker, author of a book about Lay, it stars actor Mark Povinelli. He played the role in London, and is a Little Person, just as Lay was, the latter recorded as being about four feet tall. 

Ron Daniels, former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, comes along to direct the play here. The Return of Benjamin Lay is performed in the historic Braddock Carnegie Library. 8 p.m. 526 Braddock Ave., Braddock. (M.V.)

UNRECONCILED by Jay Sefton and Mark Basquill. barebones productions. January 31 – February 16. 

2) Barebones productions, known for adventurous theater, brings to the Pittsburgh area a new play that’s being hailed as the best treatment yet of a grim subject: sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church. Unreconciled is a one-person multimedia show co-written and performed by theater artist Jay Sefton. Years ago, when Sefton was 13, he was tapped to play Jesus Christ in his middle school’s passion play. He did not suspect he’d been chosen as a target for his parish priest’s illicit advances. Then recently—after an adult life that had taken him from his hometown near Philadelphia, to an acting-and-writing stint in Los Angeles—Sefton moved back east, earned a license as a mental health counselor, and resolved to bring his experiences with abuse to the stage. With help from playwright Mark Basquill, Sefton honed Unreconciled to a taut 80 minutes. And he performs it like a virtuoso. Shifting gears seamlessly, he plays a dozen characters (including the predatory priest) while juggling old video footage of the passion play and other props. 

Strikingly, the play elicits laughter as well as pathos. It’s been called a show to see whether you followed news of the abuse scandal or not. And you can see Sefton in Unreconciled at the barebones black box. 8 p.m. 1211 Braddock Ave., Braddock. (M.V.) 

3) Asheville, North Carolina has long had a reputation as a laid-back, hippie town, a Californian city which somehow drifted to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. No surprise it produced Papadosio, who play “space rock,” an amalgamation of electronic, jazz, and rock. 2023’s To Live a Making is the group’s latest album. (Also, the music video for “Epiphany” is very cute.) You can catch Papadosio at Thunderbird Cafe and Music Hall where they will be performing for two consecutive nights. 8 p.m. 4053 Butler St. Lawrenceville. (C.M., R.H.)

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