Program Notes

It is important for the audience to note that the events in “Quills” are not historically accurate, while the Marquis de Sade did indeed reside at Charenton Asylum under care of the Abbe de Coulmier, the graphic torture in the play did not actually take place in real life. The fact that the playwright, has taken a creative license with history is no matter since “Quills” is not meant as an accurate portrayal of the Marquis time at Charenton Asylum, but rather is a portrayal of the injustices of censorship. The Marquis persecution by the controlling regime is not simply due to the sexually explicit subject matter of his novels but more so the depiction of corruption within the clergy, the legal system, and conjointly those in positions of power. The Marquis propagated his ideas on the subjectivity of virtue and vice through his novels, focusing on the evils of absolutism whether for good or evil. A true libertine the Marquis rejected traditional views, preferring passion over consequence and viewing nature as the only true ruler of man.

Historically the Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat and salacious author but there are few historical difference from the play. First of all by 1807, the year the play takes place, Renee Pelagie and the Marquis had already divorced and the Marquis had re married an actress who was allowed to live with him at Charenton Asylum during his second incarceration in 1803. The only harsh treatment of the Marquis at Charenton on record was under the Abbe de Coulmier, who was forced to put the Marquis in solitary confinement in 1809 as well as deny him parchment paper and quills, due to an police order that had been issued. Napoleon, who had gained control of the government by means of coup d’état becoming a militaristic dictator and eventually crowned himself emperor in 1804. Had risen to power through the coup of 18 and established the consulate which he ruled till restoration of the Bourbons’ in 1814. He enforced strict censorship, forcing all printers and booksellers to swear an oath of allegiance to him and all newspapers fell under his control. This display of Napoleons’ tight control of all reading materials and information available to the French people makes the Marquis defiance all the more notorious. Napoleon ordered the immediate arrest for the author of “Justine” which was published anonymously in 1803, the Marquis had boldly addressed a copy of the novel to Napoleon, further provoking his wrath. Thus giving insight to Napoleons’ motivation to keep the Marquis confined to Charenton Asylum in order to extinguish his writing as well as means of punishment for his insubordination.

The questions raised by “Quills” on censorship are just as much of an hot issue today as they were in the Marquis time. We are left to contemplate who is indeed responsible for Madeline Leclerc’s demise, the Lunatic who physically committed the act or the Marquis, whose words incited the riot? No less riveting is the blurred lines between good and evil, as the Marquis moves from purveyor of depravity to unlikely martyr, and the Abbe from irreproachably pure to radically violent. The extreme lengths the Doctor Royer Collard and the Abbe de Coulmier go to suppress the Marquis only serves as a dark warning on the treacherousness of inflicting radical procedures in the name of the greater good. The irony of the self righteous Doctor Royer-Collard ordering the Abbe de Coulmier to execute the gross atrocities that befall the Marquis simply because of his writing is hypocritical to say the least. Especially when one considers that the Marquis is being persecuted for putting ideas on paper and that his persecutors are actively inflicting forms of punishment that are depraved in nature, the very same offense (depravity) they see in the Marquis writing. Even more disparaging is the Doctors lack of accountability when his actions finally catch up with him, he manages to slither out of blame unscathed, simply washing his hands of the matter and citing the dispirited Abbe whose realization of his own actions has left him shaken to the core. The play is intended to leave the audience with questions on the supposed roles of good and evil and the roles censorship plays within our society. Simply put, who is more evil, those who purvey immoral ideas or those who attempt to censor those ideas at all cost?

Production Problems Posed by the Text

The greatest problem is the content of the script and making sure that the audience understands the deeper meaning of the play, and the questions on censorship and human nature that it raises. The play is intended for mature audiences, who should be informed of that prior to attending the show. The set itself has to be used to show the asylum, showcasing the office and the Marquis cell, as well as the home of the Dr Royer Collard. The costume department would need two identical costumes for the Marquis one of which would need to be covered in cursive with an ink that looks like blood for the scene in which the Marquis writes on his clothes in his own blood. Another problem would be how to tastefully display the nudity of the Marquis The aftermath of the Marquis torture is shown in the script, the makeup department would need to be able to show his lips sewn together, this make up would be applied in between scenes so a quick method would be needed. As well as show the Marquis after he has had his hands and feet removed. Madeline’s resurrection is another problematic scene, how physical should the actors get and does the Abbe commit the act or stop short? Another issue in this scene is the wall which must split to reveal the Marquis dressed as a Christ like a figure. The last issue would be how to show the Marquis coming back to life with his decapitated parts on the desk in the office of the asylum at the end of the show.

Production Problems Posed By Our Context

The first issue that we as a department would face would be the content of the play, as an academic institution we are aware that “Quills” is not about pornography but about censorship, however the social climate of Huntsville may be too caught up in the racy subject matter to appreciate the deeper issues of the play. From a production standpoint one of the most difficult issues would be how to handle the nudity since the university may be against it. The scene where Madeline is murdered and her body is shown to the audience hoisted up on ropes would be a safety issue as well as a financial one, since a flying team would have to be hired. Another difficult scene to stage is when the resurrection scene with Madeline and the Abbe, the sacrilegious use of the Christ like imagery with the Marquis as well as the Abbes’s sexual fantasy might be a little too heavy for the average Huntsville audience. This show would make for an interesting Summer Rep experience since our audiences tend to be smaller and comprised mainly of theatre students and other members of academia, who could appreciate the show and understand the message on censorship without being distracted by the otherwise graphic content.

Other Production’s Solutions

The problems posed in staging a show like “Quills” are many but with ingenuity they can be overcome. The foremost problem is the content of the show, pornography, violence, and nudity are not for the average theatre audience. Audiences should be well informed before the show that the play is very adult and that nudity is present. All posters and advertisements for the show should be labeled with such warnings and only those eighteen years of age or older should be admitted. The set which needs to show three different locations can be done with the use of lightening as done by the Luna-id company, who used light to illuminate the three different sections on the stage. Madeline’s death scene where she is hoisted up on ropes would need to use Flying by Foy in order for safety. The last scene where the Marquis different body parts come back to life could be achieved by using a special desk with holes for the actor to fit through.

Critical Response

“Quills” has been met with mixed reviews, while some critics found the script itself to be overwritten and verbose, others found the actors overly dramatic in the production they reviewed. Such as the New Rep’s production in 2005 that one critic felt was reduced to camp through bad acting, thus destroying the experience. The Luna-id company in 2005 was given a marginal review with the critic citing the script as the main culprit for the show not coming together. However Richard Corely’s production in ‘97 at the Unicorn Theatre hit the mark with the critic who reviewed the show, crediting great acting and good directing allowing the script to function and rouse the audience to be moved and raise questions about the human spirit, art, morality, and freedom of expression just as the playwright intended.

Stages Repertory Theatre
Houston, Texas
October 1997- November 1997
Director Rob Bundy
Scenic Designer Elva Stewart
Costume Designer Rodica Mirea


In Quills, the Marquis de Sade, played with tremendous intelligence, wit and theatrical grace by William Hardy, has been locked away in the Charenton asylum because he authored "a tale so pornographic that it drove men to murder and women to miscarry." The asylum, in this production, is a beautifully frightening dungeon of a place, complete with iron-barred doors that rise up on chains, vicious-looking hanging cages and underground cells. The inmates chatter, chant and giggle off-stage; the lights are dim and damp and the whole world created is macabre, gothic and very creepy. De Sade spends his time in a cell with little to do, and as a result writes as furiously as he ever did when he was free. And his tales are still prurient, violent and horrific, much like the world he now occupies.

Lee Williams, The Houston Press
November 6, 1997

Shadowmen
Trapdoor Theatre
Chicago, IL
October 2008- November 2008
Director Scott McKinsey
Scene, Lighting, & Sound Design: Scott McKinsey and Dave Sweeny
Costume Design: Lauren Yearsich and Jordan Kohl


The Shadowmen make their debut with this intermittently interesting but far too cautious revival of Doug Wright’s study of the Marquis de Sade’s last days at the Charenton asylum. There are plenty of reasons to re-examine Wright’s central concern—what kind of control, if any, should the state exert over the troubling speech of its citizens? The show gets off to a slow start, and the dramatic stakes in Scott McKinsey’s production don’t build as inexorably as they should, though it is markedly better in the second act than the first.
Kerry Reid, The Chicago Tribune
October 24, 2008

Doug Wright's 1995 play about the Marquis de Sade's final days, spent in a crumbling insane asylum where an authoritarian doctor and a compassionate priest conspire to quash his degeneracy, has only one point to make: those devoted to stamping out violence and indecency invariably resort to the very tactics they condemn. But Wright explores his one issue with enough subtlety and ingenuity to generate two compelling hours of theater--before squandering his final 30 minutes on a lot of obvious, facile conclusions. Director Scott McKinsey's bare-bones Shadowmen production looks like it was thrown up with stuff someone found in the alley, but the leads in this mostly satisfying show tell Wright's story with passion and intelligence.
Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader
http://events.chicagoreader.com/events/Event?oid=856929