Controlled chaos reigns in playwright Anne Washburn’s “10 Out of 12,” and director Andrew William Smith has been in charge of creating it.
Quantum Theatre is mounting the play at the Mellon Institute in Oakland, with opening night on Friday. The run continues through April 26.
“It’s been beautiful because I’ve been looking for something different and this play — and the process of creating it — has been the ‘something different’ I’ve been looking for,” Smith said.
A former actor, Smith is an associate professor in the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and was founding co-artistic director of Project Y Theatre Company in New York City.
Smith had experience with Quantum before, directing its production of “Scenes From an Execution” in 2024. But he was looking for a new challenge when “10 Out of 12” came along.
“I was looking, I think, to expand myself, to push myself to visit a piece of theater that is maybe a little bit nonlinear or different in its narrative approach or has a sense of heightened style,” he said.
He and Quantum founding artistic director Karla Boos spent weeks sorting through scripts before landing on Washburn’s play. Despite being intimidated by how unique the work is, Smith was quickly on board.
The play’s title refers to the number of hours the Actor’s Union allows for one very long day in the technical process of building a show. The show brings the audience into the fraught and frazzled world of a technical rehearsal for a play-within-a-play with plenty of laughs along the way.
Quantum specializes in site-specific theater and unique, immersive touches. In the case of “10 Out of 12,” each audience member is provided with a headset that adds an extra audio component to the chaos.
“There is a whole life behind the scenes that the audience has access to,” Smith said.
He’s also enchanted with the Mellon Institute as a space to house the play. “It’s tall ceilings and the building itself has these big, thick columns. There’s something grand and very traditional about it, which is a beautiful fit for the play-within-a-play.”
The cast has also made the directing experience rewarding for Smith. “We broke this play apart at the table for the first couple of days of rehearsal and then immediately after, we improvised all of Act One, all in a row. … They inherently made the entire thing very immersive because it all happened in the entire room,” he said.
While “10 Out of 12” is a behind-the-scenes comedy, Smith warned not to expect “Noises Off,” the comic play by Michael Frayn about a chaotic theater troupe.
“This has a much more realistic and naturalistic feel to it, and the cast has done a great job juggling those styles,” he said.
Of course, as opening night approaches, the meta-experience of holding tech rehearsals for a play about a tech rehearsal has only enhanced the show’s comedic aspects.
“There’s a mention in the play about all the bruises that everybody gets right around their knees because they keep bumping into the seats in the dark, and our entire cast and crew all have bruises on their knees from bumping into the seats in the dark,” Smith laughed.
Summarizing the work, Smith said that “10 Out of 12” is unexpected, funny and full of heart.
“It’s a really unique adventure in which you get to peek behind the curtain into the lives of these people as they engage in the struggle to bring forth a creative process with the right amount of heart,” he said.
Quantum Theatre’s “10 Out of 12” runs from April 3 to 26 at the Mellon Institute in Oakland. Tickets at quantumtheatre.com.