The Crying Room: Exhumed

A crying room is a small, soundproof chamber at the back of a theatre auditorium where you can experience an event via one-way glass and live audio feed. As the name suggests, it’s a place you can go if you are crying so as not to disturb the audience. But what if a crying room was actually a site dedicated to emotional extraction? A place not to conceal tears, but to invoke them?

The Crying Room: Exhumed conjures a world of hyperspiritualists, clairvoyeurs, psychobabble and cybergrief. Prophecies will be scried and spectres will be divined - all for a nominal fee. But some fortunes ought to remain untold, and even the dead are buried with their mobile phones.

In this deeply personal and form-bending adaptation of his award-winning online work The Crying Room, Marcus Ian McKenzie scours infinite planes in search of his lost brother.

Reviews for The Crying Room: Exhumed:

• “One of the most complex unpackings of grief and loss that I’ve ever seen.” - Anador Walsh, Performance Review
• “An ingenious remount... This is a sprawling solo performance reminiscent - in its use of technology and its focus on memory - of the work of New York’s experimental Wooster Group. The show has no real form: it’s just one coup de theatre moment after another.” - Andrew Furhmann, The Age

Awards for The Crying Room:

• Green Room Awards: Contemporary & Experimental Performance
• Melbourne Fringe: Best Experimental Work
• Melbourne Fringe: Best Adaptation to Screen, supported by Theatre Network Australia
• Melbourne Fringe: Art Unbound Award, Supported by Experimenta

Duration:
90 Minutes

Ticketing:

Purchase tickets for 3 or more performances at once and enjoy a 20% discount. Liveworks Festival is curated to let you experience multiple shows in a single day—so why not make the most of it and see them all!

You can find the full schedule here, and the Archie Rose Liveworks Bar will be open all week for you to eat and drink before and between performances.

Release 1: 21 August
Standard: $50
Concession: $40
30 Down: $30
Artist: $25
Mob Tix: $20

Release 2: 9 September
Standard: $55
Concession: $45
30 Down: $35
Artist: $30
Mob Tix: $20

Release 3: 7 October
Standard: $60
Concession: $50
30 Down: $40
Artist: $35
Mob Tix: $20

Content Warnings:
This performance contains full frontal nudity, mild coarse language, references to self harm, suicide, mental health, COVID-19, and death, and references to drug use.

This performance contains haze, strobe and flashing lights, sustained bright lights and both sudden and sustained loud noises.

This is an 18+ event.

Merchandise:
Shop The Crying Room: Exhumed Merch here.