Duncan Stevens has written several reviews of plays produced by Second Skin Theatre. Or to be exact, he has hosted reviews written by a collection of unusual characters. This time, for Quills, a deceased horse makes an appearance… 

Being a person who has always recognized the talent and mastery of the marquis, although not what I would call “a fan” I could not let the opportunity of going to see this play, Quills, and I must say, I am blown away by every aspect of the play.

The play, written by Doug Wright and directed by Andy McQuade depicts the last weeks of the Marquis de Sade’s life. Imprisoned in the Charenton asylum for the insane. His wife, Renee Pelagie (played by Lauren Kellegher) pleas to the director of the asylum, Doctor Royer-Collard (Stephen Connery-Brown) to stop her husband’s writing. The doctor finds a river of letters, manuscripts and general inkflow that traces back to the Marquis cell. In there, a far from distressed Marquis (Peter Glover) is at the peak of his creativity and far from finished. His love interest and passionate reader, Madeleine LeCLerc (Nika Khitrova), helps him deliver his writing to reach his audience. It is not long until the doctor calls in the person who is attending the marquis mental health to assess the issue, the priest Abbe de Coulmier (Chris Brown).

It is not often that I get so impressed by a production this size, which in my opinion it belongs to a stage in the west end for a longer run. The acting is magnificent as I cannot think of any part that wasn’t played by somebody who enjoyed his or her role thoroughly.

As I recognise exquisite debauchery in the script, quills writes itself as the play goes on, not feeling like a play per se but mostly a collection of circumstances that almost trample each other
in order to be acknowledged by the audience due to their intensity. There, almost as if written by the Marquis himself, we face humorous notes where the macabre cannot hold its laughter shut and a guilty smile sneaks up to the audiences visage. The pain, the tragedy, the perverse and the insane look at us as if the reflection in a mirror that we refuse to believe.

And towards the end we lose sight of the Marquis, slipping away in the lines of the text and in the shades of the stage, taken away by death. He who knew no guilt nor he knew about evil. He who saw man not as a child of god but as a fatherless creature.

And condemned he was for telling the truth, and punished and disposed of, as if death would be a cheaper alternative to turning one’s face to that laughable reflection of what we are.

So who killed the marquis if not his biggest so called sin? shouldn’t we voice the word “Pride” when the beast was killed in such a gruesome way? was it his destiny to die to make a point for humanity? “So the bible and the marquis work should sit together in every home, and let man decide which portrays best what human nature is”.

What an excellent reflection of another character in history, so to speak. Both killed and then lamented.

http://www.theatre-in-london.co.uk/quills/