#UglyCry - grief hits different now
36th Street Theatre, 312 W 36th St. 4th floor)
Performances: Oct. 28 - Nov. 18
Talkback & Book signing
with Grief Therapist and Author Gina Moffa
Nov. 12th 7:00 pm Show - 8:30 pm talkback
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
Directed by Susanne McDonald
Dramaturg: Janus Young
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.
Please arrive 30 minutes before showtime. Our prelude offers valuable insights that will maximize your enjoyment of the show as well as offering you guidance on how best to participate through the use of your personal cell phones.
“Mack exudes charisma and her tale about her ex is intriguing and engaging…You will, most likely, leave the theater somewhat different than you came in, grappling with questions about your mortality.” – ‘Burgh Vivant
"What is remarkable about Mack's performance is that she is reliving the grieving process with every performance. It is not a fictional story with an actor taking on a role; this is a powerful emotional connection within her life."
Theater Scene.net Scotty Bennett
"...Mack did accomplish her goal—I left the theater wanting to know more about Anthamatten..."
heater Pizzazz Stuart Miller
“The show is a bit of a marvel, consistent at every level of design...It is so satisfying in detail and completeness. Go see ‘#UglyCry’ — you will think, you will feel, you will connect, from IRL to AI and back again.” The Front Center Row Sarah Downs
“Mack’s raw, heartfelt, vulnerable script helps us navigate these challenging questions, proving that grief is real, hard, and ongoing…Mack’s enlightening and intelligent framing of grief is empowering instead of depressing. #UglyCry is a gift that reminds us that we can stay in a dialogue with the past. Grief is the love you give to someone that has nowhere to go, so we must put it somewhere.” – On Stage Pittsburgh
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.
OUR TEAM
Katie Mack
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.
Janus Young
Janus Young (They/Them) Dramaturg and Technical Director Pittsburgh, brings 12 years of experience working as a freelance designer, artist, and production manager. Janus recently accepted the role of Creative Programs Manager at the New Hazlett. Janus will work with CSA Artists, Artists-in-Residence, and designers for the Theater's original in-house programming.
Susanne McDonald
SUSANNE McDONALD is a director, devising theatre artist, and actor living in New York City. She is thrilled to be leading #UglyCry from Pittsburgh to New York City. Susanne loves to push the boundaries of what theatre can be, which is what drew her to Katie Mack’s #UglyCry. She is also no stranger to profound, Earth shattering grief either (yes that drew her in too). Susanne was able to direct her first multi-media project with #PUSHpregnancy in 2021, a project specifically created to help teach doctors and nurses how to support mothers pregnant with their miracle babies. She is currently co-producing Hero with 366 Films, a short film about mental health and
sobriety in the acting community. Keep an eye out on her social media for her short film she is
producing, writing, and starring in Trivial Pursuits, also about the impact of significant grief.babied Other directing and producing credits include: Don’t Go Off, A Space Between A Part featured at the 2021 foolsFURY Build From Here Virtual Theatre Festival & Gathering. Her most recent theatre assistant directing credits include: Satchmo at the Waldorf, No Child with Pure Theatre, #DogMom, and Anne Being Frank. Other film assistant directing credits include: No One Likes a Mad Woman with Maid & Prince Productions as well as production coordinating with The Crop
Shoppe and Moth & Flame. @susannemcd11 www.susannemcdonald.com
Sarah Shea
Sarah Shea is a stage manager, director, and freelance theatre artist based in New York City. A graduate from Hunter College, Sarah has spent the past several years working on as much theatre as possible, in just about every capacity imaginable. Some recent credits include the Hunter College MFA Thesis Festival, and Hunting Gun at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Sarah previously worked with Off the Wall in 2022 on What Kind of Womanand is excited to be working with this team again! Much love to all her friends and family.
Claudia Zajic
Claudia Zajic is a New York City-based theatre multi-hyphenate. She makes her living (mostly) as a freelance theatrical electrician, but does just about everything in theatre on and off the stage. Some of her favorite credits include being the deck technician for The Butcher Boy (Irish Repertory Theater), assistant stage manager for What Kind of Woman (the cell theatre), video designer for The Interrobangers (TRANSTheatreFest), and King Claudius in Hamlet (The Frederick Loewe Theater). She gives her sincerest thanks to all friends and family who have supported her. Much love!
Natalie Rose Mabry
Natalie Rose Mabry (she/they) Is a Trans-Queer Scenic & Projections Designer. They Recently Moved From Dallas to Pittsburgh as the Resident Artist and Teaching Artist at the University of Pittsburgh. Natalie Is the Recipient of the Bill and Gene Eckhart Award for Excellence In Stage Design and, the Taubman Scholarship For Excellence In Stage Design. They Have Designed for Theatres Such as the The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Dallas Theater Center, Shakespeare Dallas, Stage West Theatre, Dallas Childrens Theater, Theatre Three, and More. Natalie Is a Trans-Queer Designer Focusing on Stories for a New and Modern Audience and Making Space for Trans Designers Voices.You can find them via: IG: @nrmabryartistry. Website: natalierosemabry.art
Juliette Louste
Juliette Louste, Lighting Designer and Technical Director, has traveled the world studying and working in the arts for 20 years. She is a dancer and choreographer, a teacher and a master of improvisation. In addition, she is a light designer and technical director. She graduated as a
choreographer from the Institute del Teatre in Barcelona. In addition to running her own company, she was a co-founder of
PerkImBa and Lonely Riders Iceland. She is currently the technical director of the Reykjavík Fringe Festival, Reykjavik Dance Festival and UNGI as well as leading or participating in various educational and cultural projects.
Shannon Knapp
Shannon Knapp (she/her/hers) is a director, sound designer, all-around theatremaker, and the Director of Marketing for the Pittsburgh Playhouse. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh
and most recently served as Communications
Manager for HowlRound Theatre Commons. Shannon has spent the last decade developing plays and irreverent publicity schemes with her close collaborators at Non-State Actors as well as working frequently with off the WALL productions and Throughline Theatre Company. When not playing theatre make-believe, she plays Dungeons and Dragons make-believe.