ASSIGNED AT BIRTH: MY FUNERAL PART 1 to Play The Marsh Berkeley
The solo work explores belonging, faith, and identity through storytelling, music, and ritual.
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What happens when the identity you've spent your life performing no longer fits? Bay Area speaker, facilitator, and theater artist Dev Cuny (they/them) will premiere Assigned at Birth: My Funeral Part 1 as part of The Marsh Berkeley's In Front of Your Eyes Festival, a festival celebrating original work by women and non-binary artists. Performances take place on Wednesday, August 19 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, August 22 at 1:00 p.m.
Blending memoir, theater, music, ritual, and comedy, Assigned at Birth is an immersive theatrical experience exploring belonging, identity, faith, family, and the complicated ways people learn to survive. Equal parts heartfelt and humorous, the production invites audiences into an evening that asks universal questions about authenticity, shame, and what it means to finally live as ourselves.
Raised in white evangelical Christianity, Cuny draws from personal experience while telling a story that reaches far beyond any single identity. Rather than offering easy answers, the performance creates space for laughter, reflection, grief, and hope, inviting audiences to see pieces of their own lives within the story.
'I hope people laugh a lot,' says Cuny. 'I hope they recognize pieces of themselves in the story, even if our lives look completely different. More than anything, I hope they leave feeling a little less alone.'
Cuny serves as Assistant Director of Training and Capacity Building at Seneca Family of Agencies, where they help schools and organizations build cultures of belonging through trauma-informed and restorative practices. A TEDx speaker and former hospice and hospital chaplain, Cuny has spent their career creating spaces where people can engage difficult conversations with curiosity, compassion, and hope. Assigned at Birth brings that same spirit to the stage.
The production marks Cuny's debut full-length theatrical work and is part of a festival dedicated to amplifying the voices of women and non-binary artists through original live performance.
ABOUT DEV CUNY
Dev Cuny is a Bay Area speaker, facilitator, theater artist, TEDx speaker, and former hospice and hospital chaplain. Their work explores belonging, identity, and healing through storytelling, education, and live performance. Assigned at Birth: My Funeral Part 1 is their debut full-length immersive theatrical experience.
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