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The Designated Mourner

Written by Wallace Shawn
Ubu's Other Shoe Artistic Direction by Michael Siebrass

Show Times

March 13 – March 14, 2020

Friday @ 7 pm
Saturday @ 2 pm & 7 pm

About

We regret to inform our patrons that this show has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 emergency. Please see our COVID-19 Update page for more information and helpful links.

 

As their rapidly changing country slips into totalitarianism, three artist-intellectuals try to make sense of their changing lives in this searing and prescient drama. A famous poet-intellectual, his daughter, and her husband observe the flagrant transformations of everyday life, public affairs and personal relationships when their government brutally cracks down on anyone suspected of subversion.

This staged reading is supported in part by The Coastal Awakening, an arts and cultural movement centered within and around San Luis Obispo County, where the physical landscape reflects a union of heart and mind. From Krishnamurti’s disciples in Ojai Valley and the Dunites in Oceano; to the healers and writers at Esalen and Big Sur; and the surfers, hippies, and progressives in Santa Cruz—ours is a legacy of liberation and diversity of expression.

Please note: Our usual seating will be reconfigured for this staged reading and all seating will be “in the round”. The seating chart shown in our ticketing system does not match the actual seating configuration, but rest assured that every seat is a great seat. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to be sure you find your correct seat in this temporarily altered configuration. 

Accessibility note: Seats A1-A13, B1-B13, E1-E3 require no vertical steps. All other seats require one or two steps of 7” each. Additional staff and volunteers will be on hand to assist patrons with seating at this show. 

 

Reviews

Strange names and even stranger play…unsettling, ominous…the fastidiousness of the language and the detached tone in which horrific events are recounted exert a hypnotic power.
– Time-Out NY
THE DESIGNATED MOURNER is highly unconventional, much concerned with matters of politics, culture, and human significance…There is quality in Shawn’s writing—imaginative verve, quiet intensity, a sort of Puritan sensitivity or a blend of them all—that reduces objections to a quibble…This is a playwright who does not just tell you what it is like to be arrested at night by goons or to fall morally apart and become an aimless yet weirdly contented ghost yourself. He has the originality to make you feel it.
– Times (London)
A fascinating play with beautiful passages of writing…
– Variety
Like all great political art, 'THE DESIGNATED MOURNER' offers no easy answers; instead, it uses the bond between the audience and the characters to jerk us out of our apathy and remind us that it's always later than we think.
– Time-Out NY

Cast

Judy
Christina Diaz
Howard
Michael Simkins
Jack
Michael Siebrass

Sponsors

Gina Kirk

Ubu's Other Shoe Season Sponsor

Additional Show Support

Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

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