Quills © Stéphane Bourgeois
The story begins in France during the reign of Napoleon I, in the peaceful Charenton Asylum, where the most famous resident is the irrepressible Marquis de Sade. Abbé de Coulmier, the director of the facility, believes he can rehabilitate this man who uses his writing to explore what is forbidden to humans, his sexual urges and his immoral desires.
Despite the Abbé’s pervasive presence, Sade continues to get his scandalous stories published with the help of the young laundress, Madeleine. Napoleon I sends Dr. Royer-Collard to the asylum to silence this crazy person whose work is jeopardizing the society’s moral foundations. But how far will he go to stop him?
Censorship and freedom of expression collide and come face to face in this landmark piece that questions both the responsibility of the artist when it comes to his work's repercussions and the very definition of morality, which is not as immutable as is often believed.
Quills, Doug Wright’s controversial work, is a collaboration of Jean-Pierre Cloutier and Robert Lepage.
Text: Doug Wright
French translation: Jean-Pierre Cloutier
Directors & Scenic Designers: Jean-Pierre Cloutier et Robert Lepage
With: Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Érika Gagnon, Pierre-Olivier Grondin, Pierre Lebeau,
Robert Lepage, Mary-Lee Picknell
Directors' assistant: Adèle Saint-Amand
Lighting Designer: Lucie Bazzo
Sound Designer: Antoine Bédard
Costumes Designer: Sébastien Dionne
Associate Set Designer: Christian Fontaine
Properties: Sylvie Courbron
Wigs: Richard Hansen
Make-up: Gabrielle Brulotte
Production: Ex Machina
Co-production : Le Théâtre du Trident, Québec — Les Nuits de Fourvière, Lyon — La Colline, théâtre national, Paris — La Comète - Scène nationale de Châlons-en-Champagne — Le Théâtre français - Centre national des Arts d'Ottawa
Originally produced by the New York Theater Workshop (1995) /
Jim Nicola, Artistic Director / Nancy Kassak Diekmann, Managing Director
Producer for Ex Machina Michel Bernatchez
Associate Production - Europe and Japan Richard Castelli - Epidemic
Associate Production - The Americas, Asia (except Japan), Australia, NZ Menno Plukker Theatre Agent
Ex Machina is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Quebec's Arts and Literature Council
and the City of Quebec.
