#UGLYCRY Will Make its New York Premiere in October

Off the Wall Productions will present the New York premiere production of Katie Mack's #UGLYCRY: grief hits different now 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 continues through Saturday, November 18. Opening Night is Thursday, October 28 (8 p.m.).  Tickets are $25 and available at https://www.ticketor.com/carnegiestage/tickets/uglycry-262749#buy.  

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.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission

Biographies

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.

Susanne McDonald  (Director) 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, also about the impact of significant grief. 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

OFF THE WALL PRODUCTIONS' mission is to foster a compassionate community, ensure fair wages for artists, and promote the appreciation of diverse arts. We provide a creative home for live theater, dance, music, and comedy. We empower women theater artists to collaborate and innovate as playwrights, directors, technicians, and actors, nurturing their growth and new works.

6 Annual Awards by the International Center for Women Playwrights (ICWP) honoring theaters that produce plays written in equal measure by women and men. 

76 productions since 2007,  mostly regional, local and world premieres. Now producing new plays to Premiere in Pittsburgh/New York/Iceland.