BWW Q&A: Katie Mack of #UGLYCRY At Off The Wall Productions

Off The Wall Productions presents the New York premiere of #UGLYCRY, a play by Katie Mack, directed by Susanne McDonald

#UGLYCRY will play a three-week limited engagement at Off Broadway’s 36th Street Theatre (312 West 36 Street, Floor 4, New York, NY, 10018) in conjunction with When Jesus Divorced Me, a play by Laura Irene Young. Performances begin Thursday, October 26 2023 and continue through Saturday, November 18.

After the death of her ex-boyfriend, grieving social media obsessed millennial Katie Mack uses the only thing she really knows how to use to bring him back-her phone. A ninety minute interactive performance where the audience uses their phones to try to bring the now deceased, Eric Anthamatten, back to life. A show about loss in the age of Instagram, Facebook & TikTok, and the little legacies we leave behind. Based on a true story. Bring Your Own Phone.

The production is co-created with dramaturg Janus Young and features scenic design by Natalie Rose Mabry, and lighting design and technical director by Juliette Louste. Shannon Knapp is the sound designer and Sarah Shea is the stage manager. Publicity by Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR.

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What can audiences expect from #UGLYCRY?

Audience members can expect an immersive, interactive experience using their phones that not only deals with the stages of grief but also love. Yes, you may shed some tears but you might also share some laughs. Where do your phones come in? Through accessible apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok…Not only do we encourage you to take pictures and record the show, we prompt you to.

What was the inspiration for the show?

The suspicion that the grief process is different now with how we use and interact with social media, to write my third phones-on immersive show to include this suspicion, and to make something with the now deceased Eric Anthamatten.

What was the rehearsal process like?

Unlike most shows, tackling the technical aspects was at the forefront of our mind. The ultimate goal was to have as many technical elements ready as possible for Katie Mack (actor/creator) to work with as possible from the very start. With a strong technical team, we were able to test and experiment with many of our technical elements as soon as our rehearsals began in Carinege, PA. Technology is Mack’s scene partner for the entirety of #UGLYCRY. Although traditional rehearsal practices were used in our day to day, we also had to merge them with the unknown technical elements. We began with using the siphon, a piece of theatre magic you will see when you come to the show. Then adding and painstakingly tweaking videos and photos until everything began to sync up, most of which was before tech week. Also there was a lot pre-production planning that took place with the tech team. Tech dramaturg Janus Young, our AI-consultant Brian Ellis, and our Projection Designer Natalie Rose Mabry all had to get on the same page with what might be possible even before final script was made. We wrote what we believed might be possible after testing all elements.

What has transferring the show from Pittsburgh to New York City been like so far? Having a short run in Pittsburgh allowed us the exploration needed to experiment. This show is not traditional, we begin by asking the audience to get up, close and personal to Mack on stage. To share the song that they want to play at their funeral. We even use AI. With that being said, creating new work is a process and beginning in Pittsburgh allowed us that space to truly experiment. We have been very lucky to have such a strong team that carried us through into a great transfer into New York City!

What would you want the audience to take away from the show?

That grief is a process, it ebbs and flows but most importantly, as Mack puts it so gracefully: “Put it somewhere.” Come see the show, and you’ll truly see what we mean.

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#UGLYCRY plays the following schedule through Saturday, November 18. Tickets are $25 and are now available online at https://www.ticketor.com/carnegiestage/tickets/uglycry-262749#buy. 

Katie MACK (Playwright/Starring) 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.