CRYING AT MY PODIATRIST Will Come to The Rat Ahead of Edinburgh Fringe Run
Julia Atkin's solo show blends absurd body horror with queer and Jewish identity themes at Brooklyn's The Rat NYC.
NYC-based actor, writer and director Julia Atkin will debut her new show Crying At My Podiatrist in NYC July 27-30 prior to taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a month-long run.
When Julia Atkin loses her big toenail, she gains an unlikely spiritual advisor: her Ukrainian podiatrist. In this preposterous dark comedy, Julia revisits the worst three years of her life - medical mishaps, identity crises, and giggling through grief. Crying At My Podiatrist blends absurd body horror with a reluctant search for meaning in the world’s least spiritual office. Existential dread and unexpected tenderness collide in this EdFringe debut.
Performances will run July 27-30 at 7:30pm at The Rat NYC.
Crying At My Podiatrist is about how Julia Atkin was guided through the worst three years of her life by, believe it or not, her Ukrainian podiatrist. The show is a dark comedy exploring the duality between wanting to live and wanting to die, and having a body through it all. Yes, it’s about toenails, but it’s also about unexpected relationships that make a big impact on our lives. The show explores despair, grief, queer and religious identity, and legacy. It also shows a lot of photos of Atkin’s toe, which became severely infected requiring removal of the nail, which also brought her podiatrist into her life!
Atkin has been working on CAMP since 2022 when her toenail was removed - but the seeds had been planted years earlier. Originally, this was never meant to be a solo show. Atkin was obsessed with a German chemist and the story of his career and family: “I told everyone I knew about him, and they all asked the same question: why are you, Julia, so interested in this guy? What is it about his story that connects with yours?“
Taking that feedback, Atkin started writing about her own life, trying to untangle threads of her experience that had felt knotted up for years. Digging deep into these knots proved more traumatic than anticipated. Atkin reports: “I don't necessarily recommend it—it made me feel hopeless. But my despair was interrupted when I got my toenail removed, and met my podiatrist.” Over time she realized those conversations with him, juxtaposed with the struggles she faced, became the most potent story to tell. Writing about it helped her to frame the experiences with humor and perspective: “Luckily, the play gave me meaning in my daily life, and I hope that meaning transfers to our audiences”.
The result is Crying At My Podiatrist, a dark comedy that explores mental health, family bonds and toenail trauma. It is where absurdist body horror meets chicken soup for the soul, or grief with giggles!
ABOUT JULIA ATKIN:
Julia Atkin is an actor, writer and director. She grew up all over - six US states and two countries - but is now based in NYC. Julia’s Film and TV credits include: Gary Screams for You (TIFF Premiere), Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till (Emmy Award Winner), Bug Bites (short), NEXT (Fox), and Chicago Med (NBC). A seasoned regional theater performer, Julia has been cast in productions from the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Court Theatre, Strawdog Theatre Co., Collaboraction, Prop Thtr, and The Arc Theatre. Julia made her directorial debut at the SheNYC festival with the World Premiere of Over Easy by Abaigeal O'Donnell, which won best comedic script and best leading actor. Crying At My Podiatrist is her first solo show.
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