Theatre

Quills

Ex Machina / Robert Lepage

Hydro-Québec Auditorium

Are your convictions so fragile that mine cannot stand in opposition to them?

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.

Postponed performances — 135 minutes without intermission $53 — $79

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Performers

Pierre-Yves Cardinal
Sophie Faucher
Pierre-Olivier Grondin
Robert Lepage
Jean-Sébastien Ouellette
Mary-Lee Picknell

Credits

Text Doug Wright

French translation Jean-Pierre Cloutier

Directors & Scenic Designers Jean-Pierre Cloutier et Robert Lepage

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 Manager Marie-Pierre Gagné
Production Assistant & Tour Manager Véronique St-Jacques
Direction technique Catherine Guay and Paul Bourque
Technical Directors Catherine Guay
Stage Manager Christian Garon
Sound Manager Stanislas Élie
Lighting Manager Emie Durette
Costumes & Properties Manager Sylvie Courbron
Head Stagehand Jean-Félix Labrie
Stagehand Sylvain Béland
Technical Consultant Tobie Horswill
Set building Astuce décors, Conception Alain Gagné, Scène Éthique
Costume maker Apparat conception créative & Sébastien Dionne

Robert Lepage's Agent Lynda Beaulieu

Production Ex Machina
In co-production with Le Théâtre du Trident (Québec), Les Nuits de Fourvière (Lyon), La Comète (Châlons-en-champagne), La Colline (Paris), Le Diamant (Québec)
Producer for Ex Machina Michel Bernatchez (assisted by Vanessa Landry-Claverie)
Associate Production Menno Plukker, assisté de Magdalena Marszalek et Isaïe Richard.

Originally produced by the New York Theater Workshop (1995)

Ex Machina is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Quebec's Arts and Literature Council and the City of Quebec.

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