Anya Kai, reporting

LibLab Productions will debut its new experimental improv play, I Am Going to Die (And All They Gave Me Were These Lousy Cupcakes), at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. This show, a unique blend of humor, audience participation, and a poignant backstory, addresses the universal themes of death and grief. It will run from September 18-21 at the Yellow Bicycle Theater.

The Origin Story: A Poignant Creation 🎂

The play, colloquially known as “Lousy Cupcake,” was conceived by Lochlan MacLean after they received a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2021. During this time, Lochlan began writing absurdist plays in a style they called “Chaos Theatre,” aiming to create a more active bond between the audience and performer. One of these unfinished works, originally titled “I’m Going to Kill Myself At The End of This,” became the basis for Lousy Cupcakes.

Following Lochlan’s passing, their close friend and collaborator February Schneck finished the script. With the support of Lochlan’s mother, Brooke MacLean, who is now LibLab’s Managing Producer, Schneck and a team of artists from Lochlan’s life developed the play. The project’s complexity and demanding improv sequences led them to enlist Sylvia Grosvold, a performer with an extensive improv background and a personal connection to the show’s themes.

The Message Within the Message 🎭

LibLab Productions’ mission is to create innovative, experimental, and absurd multimedia work that explores the “chaotic experiences of the human condition.” I Am Going to Die (And All They Gave Me Were These Lousy Cupcakes) exemplifies this mission. The play’s central figure, “The Figure,” is a new character each night, created with the help of the audience. The show explores the dual perspectives of someone facing their own death and someone grieving a loss.

According to LibLab, the predominant message of the play is that life and death are two sides of the same coin, and the coin is called humanity. By allowing the audience to “birth” a new character each night, the play demonstrates the universal connection we share through our common experiences of being born, changing, and eventually dying. It’s a reminder that it’s okay to be honest about death and that it’s a neutral, universal truth. The ideal takeaway for the audience is to feel a sense of catharsis and to understand that death is not something to be avoided or made mysterious, but simply to be felt in whatever way we need.

Philly and Beyond 🗺️

After its run in Philadelphia, the show will make one more stop on its 2025 festival circuit in Oklahoma City. For 2026, the company hopes to take the show to the West Coast or even abroad. In addition to touring Lousy Cupcake, LibLab Productions is planning its first New Works Retreat in Evanston, IL, where they will work with playwrights to develop new plays.