Mad Cow a gutsy heart-full new musical is the first work to be staged by Quaestio Productions, a company founded by Hero Douglas to tell universal stories about urgent environmental issues. 

Mad Cow turns a darkly comic hand to hot-button issues, including small-scale factory farming and the ethics of eating meat. Through hauntingly memorable music and satirical storytelling, it spins an inspirational tale about what happens when you disagree with those closest to you and what it takes to stand up for your beliefs.

Combining tones of Okja and Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mad Cow takes audiences on a madcap adventure into the realms of magical realism. The musical centres on 14-year-old Martha Woolf who lives with her family on their small-scale farm in North Wales. Her sisters and parents are more concerned with Pony Club and keeping up with their well-to-do neighbours than caring for the wellbeing of their animals. But Martha is different. The black sheep of the family, she is more connected to the cows and pigs than to her relatives. When circumstances threaten the animals she cares about most, Martha is pushed to extreme lengths to save them. 

Mad Cow is the debut musical of Quaestio Productions, a brand-new company led by composer and director Hero Douglas, who has previously performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Bridgewater Hall and The National Theatre. Quaestio - which means to question - makes gutsy, heart-full musicals, in which global issues crash with family dynamics. Its mission is to make the world a better place, through radically optimistic stories for audiences of all ages. 

Why we are fundraising

We have an opportunity to bring this important work to the stage - but we need your help.

We got this amazing but last-minute opportunity to stage Mad Cow at Canterbury’s Garlinge Theatre - the UK’s first vegan theatre - from Wednesday 3rd to Saturday 13th July 2024 (tickets available here). It’s the perfect venue for Mad Cow but the schedule means we haven’t been able to raise funds via Arts Council England or other traditional routes.

Our budget will cover the production’s basic expenses, but we need your help to raise £6,500 to make the show a success.

Your donations will ensure:

• We can work with the best cast and creative team - and afford to pay them Equity minimum rates.
• We reach as wide an audience as possible by investing in marketing and press.
• We put on the best show possible and increase our chances of being able to transfer Mad Cow to another venue or tour the country (we already have potential dates in Wales next year).

Every donation is hugely appreciated and will help to make Mad Cow a success. If you are unable to come and see the show in Canterbury, donating the £12 price of a ticket is a great way to show your support.

If you’re able to give more, £50 would cover the cost of printing flyers, £120 would support a performer to participate in a day’s rehearsal, and £550 would support an actor for a whole week of performances.

In thanks for your donation, we are able to offer:

• £20: A digital link to view Mad Cow online
• £5: A signed flyer for Mad Cow 
• £10: Advanced release of recordings of music from the show
• £20: A signed poster for Mad Cow 
• £50: Meet the cast of Mad Cow 
• £100: A Mad Cow hooded sweatshirt 

Quaestio Productions has an open-book policy and we will publish a post-show costings breakdown to show how all funds were allocated in the staging of Mad Cow. 

My story: Hero Douglas

My name is Hero Douglas and Mad Cow has been a labour of love for me. It’s loosely based on my personal experiences of growing up in rural North Wales. It’s a delightfully mad, funny, heart-full story, but it also raises important questions that are close to my heart around the ethics of meat production and how we treat animals. 

I wrote Mad Cow in my spare time while studying - I studied music at Oxford University, where I was a Crankstart Scholar, and I’m currently in my final year of a PhD in composition at Bangor University. I’m also a harpist and singer and have performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Bridgewater Hall and Wembley Arena, as well as on S4C, BBC, Sky and Channel 4. In 2022 I played one of the young women of Salem in The Crucible at The National Theatre.

This opportunity to stage Mad Cow at Garlinge Theatre is a dream. It’s come along earlier than I had planned, but that’s how these things go, sometimes. I’m due to have surgery this year, which will put me out of action for six months, so it feels crucial that I seize this chance now. 

Staging Mad Cow will be career-changing for me. It’s the first time I’ve written and directed a work of this scale myself. I want to share this opportunity with other young, talented performers and creatives - your donation will go directly to supporting them and making it possible for them to participate in this project. 

I founded Quaestio Productions to make Mad Cow a reality, but I’m already working on another production for children called Poorly Planet, with writer Dixe Wills. It’s our mission to make the world a better place through radically optimistic stories for audiences of all ages. Mad Cow is the first, but we hope to continue making radical, issue-driven musicals for many years to come. 

I’m so grateful for any support you can offer and I hope to see as many of you as possible at a performance of Mad Cow this July - tickets are available HERE. You’re helping a fledgling company create a special and important piece of theatre. 

It would also help us a lot if you could share information about the show and this fundraising campaign. Please follow and help us to spread the word on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok and talk about the project with your friends, family and colleagues. Thank you!