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When playwright Cathal
(pronounced
Cal
) Gallagher could not find a theater company to stage a play he had
written about a Catholic cardinal, he decided to found one. Now known as
the Quo Vadis Theatre Company, Gallagher’s troupe has been staging
Catholic dramas in the Diocese of San Jose, Calif., since 1975.
(Correction: 1995)
A native of
Ireland
and father of five, Gallagher turns to the saints for subject matter. He
has written plays about St. Margaret Clitherow, Blessed Margaret of
Castello and St. Oliver Plunkett.
The lives of the saints
are very inspirational,” he said. “But people have the wrong idea:
They think of saints as very holy people who pray, but saints are very
tough people who have overcome great obstacles.” |
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 Gallagher’s plays entertain and evangelize.
“It’s almost like an
apostolate, though we didn’t intend it that way. There certainly is a
need for us to make an impact on the culture. People see terrible stuff
on TV and terrible movies, lots of pornographic stuff; and they lose
hope,” Gallagher said.
“This is a grassroots
approach. We don’t put on the plays in the church hall and preach to
the converted. We put Catholic plays out in city theaters, right in the
middle of the culture; and the culture takes notice. We do get publicity
in secular newspapers, and people who aren’t religious see the
plays.” |
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Quo Vadis has official nonprofit status, making
donations tax deductible.
“If anybody is interested in establishing a
Catholic theater company, we will help them. It’s not hard. It only
takes one person to begin with: I was one person,” Gallagher said.
“I think if there was a Quo Vadis-type theater in every city, this is
a way to get our message out.”
For more information, contact Gallagher at Quo
Vadis,
P.O. Box 9023
,
San Jose
,
CA
95157
(408) 252-3530 |
