Press Kit 2015-2016

www.everydayinferno.com everydayinferno@gmail.com

“This is a power packed group playing out great ideas that push at the edges of performance…they are committed to jumping off

and away from what they know, they are alchemists creating and finding what the jaded rest-of-us might not even see. Like

seeing Spalding Gray or going to the Wooster Group before they became household names, why not go watch them grow?”

-Front Row Center

About Everyday Inferno

"The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for

many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno,

are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space."

― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Our Mission: Everyday Inferno is devoted to creating adventurous theatrical productions of both new and classic texts. We seek to exceed the conventional limitations of low-budget theatre by exploring nontraditional spaces, stagecraft, and storytelling. We are committed to developing a diverse audience by producing work that is large in scope while keeping our production costs (and ticket prices) at a minimum. Innovation: A fairy tale. A ghost story. A twisted short rooted in philosophy. Each brought to life with music, creative movement, abstract design, and vast imagination. Everyday Inferno thrives on finding thrilling ways to bring stories to life, whether that’s combining live folk music with Shakespearean text, or sleek modern design with an ancient tale. By assembling a company of multi-talented collaborators, we are able to create entirely new worlds

in which audiences can become immersed.

Development: Our shows are lovingly created, piece-by-piece, from the ground up. The development and performance of new writing is a foundation of Everyday Inferno’s work. Many of the shows that make up each season begin in the very early stages of the playwrights’ processes; through readings and workshops the plays are transformed into full-scale productions. In addition to supporting new writers (including up-and-comer Reina Hardy’s June 2014 NYC debut, A Map to Somewhere Else) the company hosts several staged readings of new work per season. Collaboration Being part of the theatre community means being folded into a large (slightly dysfunctional) family of directors, performers, producers, writers, and designers. By working hard to cultivate an atmosphere of trust and respect with every artistic collaborator, Everyday Inferno has become a company that people enthusiastically return to again and again. We are committed to providing fulfilling, professional theatrical opportunities for growing theatre artists. Everyday Inferno is a company of opportunity, one that invites creators and audiences to dream together.

Current & Upcoming Productions

The Developmental Lab Four Playwrights. Four Directors. Four exciting new projects. Public presentation May 28th, 2016 Lab partnerships: Helen Banner & Courtney Self Eleanor Burgess & Todd Brian Backus Laura Hirschberg & Katherine Sommer Matthew Minnicino & Christine Zagrobelny

After I Was Free A world-premiere musical Written by Caroline Angell & Joshua Coyne Developmental work in progress Public presentation June, 2016

Iphigenia Among the Taurians A free production in Central Park Adapted from Euripides Directed by Anais Koivisto Produced by Katherine Sommer Summit Rock, Central Park August 12th-14th & 19th-21st

Past Work

The Dispute by Pierre de Marivaux August 14-23, 2015 at Summit Rock, Central Park In an isolated wilderness, a strange experiment plays out… Four orphans, raised in captivity, are released into the wild to discover the wonders of love, friendship, and lust. Their choices will determine their fates, as onlookers seek the ultimate resolution to an age-old dispute: which sex was unfaithful first? Punks & Provocateurs The Roaring Girl by Thomas Middleton & Thomas Dekker Punk as Fuck by Michael K. White & Dianna Stark (WORLD PREMIERE) June 4-21, 2015 at The Access Theatre Gallery An ambitious repertory project consisting of two fully produced works: a rarely performed feminist Jacobean comedy, and a world premiere drama. Transforming the Access Theater Gallery into an immersive space with a distinct nightclub vibe, these two shows played in rotation providing audiences the opportunity to discover surprising parallels between these very different works. Heart of Oak by Laura Hirschberg (WORLD PREMIERE) February-March, 2015 at The Kraine Theater (FRIGID New York festival) **FRIGID Hangover encore selection, Highest selling production in the festival Fleeing an arranged marriage, Alvida commandeers a pirate vessel and assembles a crew of laundry women, seamstresses, and cooks. As she struggles with opposing roles – pirate and princess – her betrothed finds himself falling for a woman he's barely met. Shanties and swordfights frame this theatrical tale of love on the high seas... The Turn of the Screw adapted from Henry James by Jamie Wylie (WORLD PREMIERE) October-November, 2014 at The Morris-Jumel Mansion Figures move in the shadows and peer through windows. Something is watching the children, waiting to take them away - and the Governess stands alone, their sole protector. But do they want to be protected? This haunting new adaptation of Henry James’ classic novella of innocence, sensuality, and horror is presented in a site-specific staging produced in partnership with The Morris-Jumel Mansion. By Sun and Candlelight adapted and directed by Katherine Sommer August, 2014 at Summit Rock in Central Park Our annual free production in the park for 2014, By Sun and Candlelight blended the romantic works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord Byron, and William Shakespeare to tell two separate but intertwining love stories full of humor and warmth.

A Map to Somewhere Else By Reina Hardy (NEW YORK PREMIERE) June, 2014 at The 133rd Street Arts Center What happens to the imagined worlds we create as children? The tender, heroic, silly, elaborate fantasies that shape the souls of so many ordinary people, then are abandoned as we grow. What if, all this time, they were there waiting, hoping we'd come back? A Map to Somewhere Else is a comic drama full of fantasy, music, and magic that dares to ask what happens when that long-closed door is reopened. Something Wicked adapted from Shakespeare's Macbeth February-March, 2014 at The Kraine Theater (FRIGID New York festival) **FRIGID Hangover encore selection, Highest selling production in the festival "The Queen, my lord, is dead." Lady Macbeth awakes to a purgatory created from her own gruesome misdeeds. Unsure whether her final destination is Heaven or Hell, and guided by three gleefully tormenting witches, she searches for answers... and her lost love... in the mind-bending hereafter. If on a Winter’s Night… Annual winter production, beginning December 2013 An annual evening of one act plays directed by Women Generously supported by the Puffin Foundation in 2014 Annual themes, 2013 to present: Fantasy & Magic, Adventurous Women, Rebellion

Briar Rose & the Thirteenth Fairy May, 2013 at The Jan Hus Playhouse By Caroline Angell (WORLD PREMIERE) Briar Rose & the Thirteenth Fairy tells the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty through the eyes of both the hero and the villain. What happens when you wake up one morning and 100 years have passed you by? How do you protect the innocence of your children in a world where evil is ever-present? The universal questions posed by this timeless fairy tale are addressed in a charming, hilarious, and occasionally terrifying manner in this new adaptation. The Golden Hour September, 2013 in Central Park A compilation of site-specific shorts A Brief Informational Session on What Used to Be Central Park (written by Skylar Fox), Isabel Sleep (written by Essie Martsinkovsky), The Issue (written by Brianna Keller), In the Land of Giants (written by Gina Femia), Dog and Human (written by Ellen Koivisto) Readings, Workshops, and Development 2011-2015 Staged Readings: Three Patricias, written by Regina Robbins at Space on White Real | Crazy, written by Cristina Ramos at The T. Schreiber Studio Theatre Pay the Piper, written by Regina Robbins at The T. Schreiber Studio Theatre Development to Full Production: Caroline Angell’s Briar Rose & the Thirteenth Fairy Jamie Wylie’s The Turn of the Screw Caroline Angell’s After I Was Free (ongoing) Jamie Wylie’s CYOA (ongoing)

Buzz for Everyday Inferno

“I am looking forward to the next production of this new and vibrant

indie theater company.“ Joan Kane, NYTheatre.com

"...an entertaining and enjoyable evening put on by some fresh talent and

an eager young theatre company." Oscar Lopez, StageBuddy

“…Everyday Inferno Theatre Company is a talented ensemble that blends dance, music and theatre to form new constructs to express the feelings and ideas of the subjects they explore. I am curious to see more of what they do.” Alice Jane Klugherz, Front Row Center

“The cast successfully fills the performance space with songs, movement

and dance to the point where scenery would only hinder their work.” Juan Recondo, Off Off Online

“[T]his is very impressive work and I would like to see more from Everyday Inferno.”

Mark Savitt, Hi! Drama

“I’m sure lovers of Macbeth will absolutely eat up the renditions of the scenes we know so well… Koivisto also incorporates music, dance, and a

pretty exquisite albeit short sequence in which various caricatures of literati attempt to reduce Lady Macbeth to a woman embittered by her

barrenness, ignoring and talking over the one female among them.” Greg Solomon, Theatre is Easy

“…this group of theater artists knows what they’re doing.” Sergei Burbank, nytheater now

“The creative team has great fun with this production, making excellent use of their space and striking a fine balance between the horror and humor of this timeless gothic tale.” Eric Grimm, Theater Pizzazz

“Overall, this piece is a great example of what a talented team with competent direction can produce.”

Dillon Slagle, Theatre is Easy

“The cast exemplifies incredible talent; each actor contributes to the dark nature of the play in song or instrument playing (violin, banjo,

tambourine)... It's an intimate and whimsical performance you're not likely to forget.”

Carly Mento, StageBuddy

“…a taut little horror story, with inventive and simple staging, a wonderfully fluid use of James' own framing device, and enough levity to give the audience a respite before the next, and markedly more effective scare.” PJ Grisar, StageBuddy

Heart of Oak is a true ensemble show, each member of the crew part of the story of their voyage with their own motivations and struggles… the actors… shine, leaving us desperately wishing that Alvira and Alfred's story were true. “ Natalie Sacks, Charged.FM

The Company

Anaïs Koivisto (Artistic Director, Founding Member) is an award-winning New York based freelance director. Previous credits include In the Land of Giants (Central Park), Briar Rose & the Thirteenth Fairy (The Jan Hus Playhouse), It's Just the Radio (The Looking Glass Theatre Forum), Three Patricias (Staged Reading, Space on White), The Golden Ticket (The Looking Glass Theatre Forum), The Saint Plays (Seiche Productions), Speed Shakespeare – Hamlet, R&J (Theatre Artists' Conspiracy), and Misreadings (SOTA). Anaïs holds a BFA from Boston University and has studied at LAMDA and ACT, is a New York Affiliate member of Seiche Productions, and has served as a member of (Re:) Directions Theatre Company and the Theatre Artists' Conspiracy. Katherine Sommer (Producing Director, Founding Member) is a producer and director working primarily in the tri-state area. She is a Skidmore College graduate and a current board member of the North Jersey-based theatre company Tomfoolery Theatre, where she has co-produced Godspell and Zombie Prom. She has directed productions in four consecutive Writer/Director Forums at the Looking Glass Theater (NY). She is proud to be a founding member of the innovative and wonderful Everyday Inferno Theatre Company where she now serves as Producing Director. With Everyday Inferno, Katherine was the producer of Briar Rose & the Thirteenth Fairy and the director of Dog and Human as part of The Golden Hour and The Policy as part of the first annual If on a Winter's Night... Meghann Garmany (Associate Artist, Director of Social Media) is an actor based in New York with some serious Southern roots. Originally from Savannah, GA, with most of her life spent in Virginia, she proudly holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Virginia Tech. Some favorite credits include, Boston Marriage, Fengar Gael's Devil Dog Six, Eurydice directed by Megan Carney, Alchemy of Desire/Dead Man's Blues directed by Ashley Sparks, and numerous readings with Playwrights Gallery produced by Katie McHugh. She is a member of the acting company of The Playwright's Gallery with Deborah Savadge. Credits with EITC include Natasha in A Map to Somewhere Else and work in their developmental series. www.MeghannGarmany.com Regina Robbins (Associate Artist, Company Manager) is a writer, director, and native New Yorker. Her plays include Enter Attendant, Disguised (Expanded Arts), Not a Dream (Six Figures Theatre), and It's Just the Radio, which won several awards at the Looking Glass Theatre's Spring 2012 Forum. Regina has had staged readings presented by Identity Theater Company, the Directors Company, and Everyday Inferno Theatre. Other company associations: Oslo Elsewhere, Horizon Theatre Rep, Untitled Theatre Co. #61. Regina has made three films; they have been seen in cities around the U.S., winning awards in New York, San Diego, Cleveland, and Asheville, NC. BA, Yale University; MFA, Columbia School of the Arts; MA, CUNY Graduate Center. Jamie Wylie (Associate Artist, Director of Public Relationships) is a New York based writer and performer. Her most recent work includes "The Modern Safety Trilogy" of After Ben Alderidge, Your Safety is Important to Us, and The Gate, as well as radio play The Honorable Thing and Teeth. She has contributed to scripts for Still, Untitled #2, Fireball, and Skull Session Six. Her work has been performed in the US, UK and Croatia. Jamie holds degrees from Skidmore College and the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Company Collaborators Caroline Angell

Kathryn Connors Gina Femia

Francesca Galbo Leslie Gauthier

Paul Gregg Jonathan Hendrickson

Jon Meyer Ryan Mills

Sam Ogilvie Taylor Reynolds Danielle Rodino

Christine Zagrobelny

Anaïs Koivisto

Katherine Sommer

Meghann Garmany

Regina Robbins

Jamie Wylie

Get in touch!

Public Relations: Jamie.Wylie@everydayinferno.com

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