QuestFest Baltimore is a two-week festival celebrating visual theatre. The community-wide festival features 11 internationally acclaimed theatre companies and artists in over 40 performances at affordable ticket prices. Come see a show or even better, use your FreQuest Flyer Card to see a series of shows at reduced prices. Take a workshop from a renowned artist. Sit in on panel discussions about the role of visual theatre in our diverse and often splintered world. But most importantly come see great theatre!

Visual theatre is accessible theatre. Hearing and deaf people, people who use English as a second language, and people who have other communication difficulties all find in visual theatre an unmet outlet for entertainment and increased access to cultural experiences.

Like all our work, Quest partners with arts organizations, educational institutions, community organizations, government agencies, and corporations that share Quest’s vision of the strength of visual theatre and inclusiveness in art. Partners include Towson University, Theatre Project, Creative Alliance at The Patterson, Baltimore Mayor’s Office for Promotion and the Arts, VSA arts Maryland, and the Maryland Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Central to the dream of QuestFest is the creation, production, and presentation of visual theatre featuring casts and production staff which include deaf and hard of hearing people and are accessible to hearing, deaf and hard of hearing audiences. QuestFest will present a broad spectrum of excellent work to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

QuestFest will accomplish these goals by:

Presenting a two-week festival featuring 11 professionally produced plays. Pieces will come from Quest Productions, visual theatre companies with primarily or exclusively hearing casts, and deaf artists from the United States and abroad. All shows will exhibit excellence in telling stories from a strong visual base.

Conducting visual theatre workshops. Artists participating in QuestFest
will conduct training in aspects of visual theatre such as mime, creative
sign language, movement, etc. for university students, theatre professionals,
and the general public.

Working with students. QuestFest artists will conduct workshops for children
in aspects of visual theatre in their own schools. Workshops, residencies and
performances are all part of exposing students to the power of expression
through visual theatre.

Conducting panel discussions for area theatre professionals, critics, and
the general public. Panels will focus on topics such as:

-Is Visual Theatre Viable?
Theatre artists and presenters will discuss the future of visual theatre.

-Visual Theatre – What’s a Critic to Do?
Critics from area news outlets will discuss the challenge of reviewing theatre that emanates from a visual base.

Providing opportunities for Towson University students and others to participate in the planning and production of QuestFest and the creation of new work to be featured at the festival.

Conducting post-performance discussions with audiences