Salon Series 2B: HELLFIRE by Julia Fisher

Seat of the Pants is excited to present our Salon Series, where - four times over the course of the year - we'll focus on brand new work, hearing plays read aloud for the first time. Each reading will be followed by a talkback with the playwright where audience members will be asked curated questions that will guide next steps in edits and re-writes. And there will also be an opportunity for our patrons to ask questions about the playwright's experience in crafting the piece up to this point. This is another way that we're trying to celebrate process and development as the hallmark of great theatre-making.

Synopsis
You’ve received an invitation to a rehearsal of Hellfire, a Christian haunted house experience hosted by a local evangelical church. A frazzled stage manager/demon takes you from scene to frightening scene to bear witness to various sins and their consequences.

But the night takes an unexpected turn as teenage actors run offstage in tears, the car for the drunk driving scene is accidentally driven away, and you stumble into rooms you’re definitely not supposed to be in.

As you eavesdrop on backstage conversations and whispered hallway interactions between the actors and crew, you begin to see the people behind the hell house - and their stories might just complicate everything you’re supposed to be learning.

A convergence of Sleep No More meets Heroes of the Fourth Turning meets But I’m a Cheerleader, Hellfire asks what - and who - we’re afraid of, and if we can really save each other from hell.

Directed by Lana Sugarman and produced by Benjamin Gregg, the reading stars Connor Defevers, Madeline Golya, Bridgett Martinez, Michael Montanus, Joe Pine, and Jasmine Renee, with stage directions read by Katherine Nash.

Content Notice
discussion of: abortion, sex
depiction of: alcohol, blood, death, drugs, homophobia, transphobia, religious trauma, gun violence