36th Street Theatre
Previews: Oct. 26 & 27
Performances: Oct. 28 - Nov. 18
#UglyCry - grief hits different now
An interactive night of theater, technology,
and resurrection of the dead
Bring your phone!
Mobile phone use before and during performance encouraged
Created and performed by Katie Mack
Dramaturg: Janus Young
Directed by Susanne McDonald
Technical Director: Juliette Louste
After the death of her ex-boyfriend, this grieving, social media-obsessed
millennial brings him back to life with her phone. Based on a true story.
Please note: Unlike traditional theater going experiences,
this show is INTERACTIVE and IMMERSIVE.
What that means at #UglyCry is that we cannot tell the story without you!
We can promise there will be nothing done to embarrass you, but we might ask you to be brave and interact with the set, the performer, and each other.
All you need is your smartphone, yourself, and a sprinkle of grief.
About The Dead
Eric Anthamatten was murdered May 22, 2021, after intervening in a robbery in Oaxaca, Mexico.
He was forty-three years young.
He was a Professor at New School, taught college level courses in prisons, was a philosopher and social justice advocate, performance artist, poet and multi-instrumentalist. Look at Eric’s last moments on Earth here.
*He also crawled on his knees for three miles as #ToddlerTrump in 2018 to protest the childish
behavior of the former president.
About The Show
Did y’all hear? Eric Anthamatten might be dead, but we are bringing him back. Yes, YOU! Duh, Katie Mack can’t resurrect someone on her own, so she needs you and a LOT of cell phone service. I mean what else do you do with one thousand hours of digital content?
It is 2023, and technology is changing the way we honor, celebrate, grieve, and interact literally with the dead.
So show up, keep those phones out and on because
this grieving girl is bringing Eric back to life!
This show works best -
if you use your phone.
if you know someone who has died.
if you’re a pretty crier.
if you’re a not-so-pretty crier.
if you play along.
if you snap the QR codes.
if you turn your sound off on your phone.
if you repost about it.
if you just assume that you are supposed to be here and not anywhere else.
About The Living
Katie MACK is a proud queer,
sober, multi-award winning writer/actor who has been writing and exploring the much rebelled against question of bringing audience phones into the theater space since 2017. She is best known for creating & producing the podcast f*cking sober: the first 90 days, which won the 2021 Webby Award for Best Writing for a Limited Series and a
2022 Communicator Award.
She owes her love of all things performance art and politics to
falling through a table and then falling in love with Eric over twelve years ago.
Her love language is social media engagement so please check out her TikTok and Instagram.
Nov. 08 - Nov 12, 2023
When Jesus Divorced Me
Written and performed by Laura Irene Young
Directed by Allison Weakland
She was married to the man of her dreams. Shortly after their wedding, he is cast at a theme park where he either plays Jesus or crucifies him everyday at 3. She tries to be proud of her husband in his new endeavor. Not until a princess from a neighboring theme park comes into the picture, does she realize something is amiss. Now, she is left with the weird and weirdly funny aftermath. A story about how we deal we life's messes and breakups. This surprising folk-music concert from Laura Irene Young expertly moves from gut busting to gut punching: with a score that is equally cheeky and vulnerable you won’t want to miss this show.
`About The Show
"My friend's ex-husband played Jesus and he left her for Mary Magdalene and said God wanted them to be together and she was the one in the way."
This has been an odd story told at parties for several years. We might as well tell it in a theatrical production complete with music! A look back at a crucial ten years, Laura examines the odd love story that she lived, along with the emotional debris left behind after the explosion.
The story is tragic but also way too weird to be taken 100% seriously.
The Love Story
Every divorce starts off a love story....
and here is this one. These two actors became friends during a summer in Ohio. A simple summer stock contract, after meeting online through mutual friends created a quick friendship. That friendship turned into love. They helped each other with monologues, audition packages, write shows, and travel to different cities for auditions and contracts. They eventually got married. The bride was religious and the groom was not. The groom went to an audition for a Christian Theme Park and was cast in all of their shows, including the crucifixion of Jesus. The bride was excited to see her husband slowly become religious, until...he left his bride for an actor playing Mary Magdalene. You may have heard of her.
The Playwright
Laura Irene Young is a creative individual from Pittsburgh, PA. She has been in several outdoor dramas, tours, a professional jellyfish, and the background extra in lots of television shows filmed in Atlanta. She is known to write a screenplay, play, or novel about anything that happens to her. Sometimes, when something makes her very sad, she will write a comedic song to process her emotions.
