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Chicago Theatre Star Visits Peace

Chicago-born playwright Vicki Quade treats Peace theatre students to a special Q&A session at the school on Oct. 24.

Burbank, IL – October 30, 2007 – “Sharp, funny, and richly humane,” said the Chicago Tribune of Vicki Quade’s 2005 comedy Put the Nuns in Charge! The same could be said of the playwright-producer herself. Quade, who, along with her sister, attended Queen of Peace High School, treated Peace theatre students to a Q&A session on a special Oct. 24 visit.

Quade grew up in Burbank, IL and attended St. Albert the Great grade school. In high school, she found a creative outlet working on theatre productions and writing for the school newspapers. This led to a career in journalism, working for Newsweek and the American Bar Association. Quade always had a passion for the arts.

In 1993, she worked with Chicago actress Maripat Donovan to create a one-woman theatre piece called Late Nite Catechism. The show, which they produced themselves and is still performed today, became an instant hit and went on to national and international fame. She spoke about the resounding popular success of the show during her visit.

“What’s great about the show is that I think its success is because of some kind of divine reason,” she told Peace students. After every show, a collection is taken up to benefit retired nuns from Orders across the country. In Chicago, the show collects for the Benedictine Order.

“People see the show, are touched, and feel like they need to respond. There is something about doing religious stand-up comedy that works here. People are moved by the character Sister. She is real. She is not a caricature or someone you can just take out of a box and put on. She is smart and funny, and the actress who plays her must find Sister from within. People respond to that.”

People, indeed, have responded. Students erupted in applause and shock when Quade announced that over two million dollars had been collected and disbursed to nuns across the nation. Quade was awarded the Spirit of Benedict Award in 2003 by the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago and the Partners in Mission Award in 2005 by the Sisters of the Living Word for her work in raising public awareness on the retirement needs of nuns.

Students also asked Quade about where her passion for writing came from. “I read Edward Albee’s The Zoo at age 10, and I knew then that I would be a writer. I love language and to shift from magazine writing to theater writing was seamless for me.”

Quade continued the session by discussing the day she met Albee, her favorite writer. “I went up to him, talked about his work, and treated him like a professional. That’s how you have to be in this business. The theatre community is small, exclusive, and generous. You never know who you will meet, who you will get to work with, or who will be able to help you.”

In addition to her numerous writings, Quade is a businesswoman. She co-owns a theatre production company called Quade/Donovan Entertainment, Inc. She also opened Chicago Group Sales, offering small and medium-sized theaters a chance to promote their shows.

With Quade’s visit, the school begins its fine arts programmatic focus by finding ways ways to bring more of the arts into the building and showing more of the students’ work in the wider community.