The Crying Room

'Immaculately conceived and heartbreakingly executed.' — Honi Soit

Following a sold-out Melbourne season and a critically acclaimed run at Carriageworks as part of Liveworks Festival, Marcus McKenzie's The Crying Room comes to Ballarat for two days only.

The Crying Room is a show inspired by the small, soundproof chambers tucked at the back of theatre auditoriums. As the name suggests, a crying room is a place where you can go if you are crying so as not to disturb the audience. But what if it was actually a site dedicated to emotional extraction? A place not to conceal tears, but to invoke them?

Funny, eerie, and quietly devastating – this multi award winning performance mixes storytelling, ritual and the uncanny as Marcus scours infinite planes in search of his lost brother.

Winner of Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performer and Outstanding Sound Work (Green Room Awards - Contemporary and Experimental Performance, 2024)

'One of the most complex unpackings of grief and loss that I’ve ever seen.' — Performance Review

'One coup de theatre moment after another.' ★★★★ — The Age

'Intense and heartbreaking with a rawness and genuine vulnerability that catches you off guard.' — My Melbourne Arts

Content Warnings: Contains full frontal nudity, mild coarse language, reference to self-harm, suicide, mental health, COVID-19, death and references to drug use. Production includes haze, strobe and flashing lights, sustained bright lights and both sudden and sustained loud noises. 

Originally commissioned by The Substation and originally assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. 

With thanks to Performance Space and previous seasons collaborators including Jacinta Anderson, Ciaran Frame, Jacob Abela, Daniel Szesiong-Todd, Lauren Tsamouras, Chloe Kim, Malcolm Whittaker and William Strom.