THE ORIGIN STORY:
When Madison Cole was 19, they didn't know what to write about for their first ever playwriting class at university. One day, they got a call from an old family friend from Australia who said, "I have a story I've never known how to tell. Can you do it for me?"
Thus, Inferna was born.
PLOT:
Inspired by true events.
Sydney, Australia, 1962. 15-year old Calynn Turner is pregnant. Sent to a church-run maternity asylum by her hyper-religious mother Harriet, Calynn must carry out a pregnancy she has no say in. In this asylum, she meets her roommate Daya, who helps her see the reality of her circumstance. Meanwhile, asylum nurse Ana wrestles with the morality of her position, against the advice of tyrannical co-worker Eris.
Back home, Calynn’s best friend Alessia and boyfriend James desperately try to find out what has happened to her. As Harriet turns to alcohol, Calynn’s little sister Cate is left to bear the weight of her fractured family and self-destructing mother.
An exploration of bodily autonomy and the power of persevering through the impossible, Inferna seeks to celebrate survivors in an age where a person’s right to choose seems to be more at stake each day.
SUCCESS THUS FAR:
Inferna recently had a successful rehearsed reading at the Alma Tavern Theatre in Bristol with Misplaced Theatre Company, where audience feedback included "brilliantly written," "beautifully balanced," and more. A review by FireKeg Productions called it "sly (and subtle) genius...a stranglehold," and said it's a piece that "has a bright and essential future."
WHY WE NEED HELP:
Inferna marks the launch of Small Beer Theatre Company's New Writing Division, and though we've been incredibly lucky to secure use of the incredible Riverside Studios, there are still a lot of costs we can't cover on our own. We need set, costumes, rehearsal space, stagehands, and we hope to be able to pay our performers and creatives fairly. That's where you come in.
Small Beer was founded by theatremakers from working-class backgrounds, and any small amount you can contribute will help tremendously.