"Quills" by Doug Wright is a fictionalized tale of the Marquis de Sade during his real-life residency in the Charenton Insane Asylum, in 19th Century France. The Wolf's Head Theatre Company (an offshoot of the U.P. Shakespeare Festival) presents performances of the play in an intimate setting, the Ore Dock Brewing Company, Wednesdays and Sundays in October 2019.
The play is a commentary on mental health, the arts, control and discipline; the entanglement between the Marquis and two officials at the Asylum (both with their ideas of how best to move forward with treatments) urge the audience to delve into both external and internal reflections on these issues.
Kurt Hauswirth spoke with Jamie Weeder (director) and Jeff Spencer (actor) about the process of presenting a play that hopes to broaden the spectrum of awareness about mental health, while also challenging the audience in an intimate space:
The remainder of the performances take place Wednesdays and Sundays at the Ore Dock Brewing Company. For more information and tickets, visit upshakes.org.
