Whilst South Korean children are taking their government to court over the state’s inaction in the face of climate change, most people are taking a leaf out of Nero’s book and playing the fiddle whilst Rome burns.
In a neat, 55-minute solo show, Dani’s Inferno, writer Charlotte Eyres addresses the issue of such impassivity through protagonist Dani, who just wants to do the right thing and warn the people having the house party that the Thames Barrier is about to fail and their lives are in danger.
Her community spirit is wasted on those she finds there, the partygoers, by necessity of time thinly drawn, but representing a cross-section of uninterested responses.
Eyres has penned some funny lyrics, “keep shopping, don’t whine” drawls the American influencer who wants to monetise the crisis, but equally the material goes to darker places and raises harder questions such as having to choose between consumerism and a longer life, where you get to enjoy the slightly less stuff you’ve acquired but over more time.
There's a surprising amount to think about here, and the overlap of apparently contradictory narrative themes—that climate change-caused natural disasters are happening, but it’s not too late to do something about it—could do with some challenging, but the show is not called Dani’s Inferno for nothing, and perhaps the tenth circle of Hell is apathy.
But this mini-musical remains a fun way to have your conscience gently prodded by Eyres’s appealingly sincere and comedic Dani.
Dani’s Inferno is part of SE Fest, a new festival based in south east London to promote and celebrate new writing co-hosted by two award-winning theatres, The Bridge House Theatre in Penge and The Jack Studio Theatre in Crofton Park. SE Fest 2024 runs until 14 September.