Magdalene: I am the utterance of my name

From the creators of The Other Mozart:

Magdalene: I am the utterance of my name

Apostle / Prostitute / Goddess

Who is Mary Magdalene?

Silenced as an apostle and framed as a prostitute, Mary Magdalene’s character and story were manipulated in order to undermine women’s leadership centuries ago. Its effects still shape our reality today.


Magdalene: I am the utterance of my name is a work of music-theater that illuminates the myths, beliefs and contradictions that have surrounded Mary Magdalene for over 2000 years. Drawing from ancient texts, artworks, and contemporary writings, the piece centers the revolutionary message from her banned and buried “Gospel of Mary Magdalene”, lost for centuries.

Created by playwright, director, and actor Sylvia Milo alongside composer and percussionist Nathan Davis, the complex work creates a prismatic image of Mary Magdalene that is revealed through seven apparitions. Milo embodies these archetypes as Davis performs his score live onstage using instruments both ancient and modern – hammered dulcimer, harmonium, sand, and water – interweaving the sound design with field recordings from sites significant to the myths. A radiant video projection design by Monica Duncan, movement direction by Janice Orlandi and choreography by Natalie Lomonte and Joanna Kotze expand the space — and our understanding of this essential story.

Equal parts theater and ritual, Magdalene: I am the utterance of my name is a transformative and spiritual experience that wrestles with flawed histories in an attempt to reach true transcendence.

Talkback series around MAGDALENE:
Reverent, Feminist, Punk — The Power and Possibilities of Mary Magdalene

June 16 –
Talkback with the Magdalene creative team (after the 4pm show, around 5:30)
Sylvia Milo (co-creator, director, actress), Nathan Davis (co-creator, composer), Monica Duncan (projection designer), Nicholas Houfek (Lighting Designer), Kodi Milburn (hair and makeup design), Jess Applebaum (Dramaturg).

June 22 –
“The Divine Feminine & Queerness” (after the 8:30pm show, around 10pm)
With Micah Bucey (Passionately progressive Senior Minister of Judson Church / a self-proclaimed “flaming fairy”),Hannah Nutter (Mary Magdalene/Divine Feminine researcher)

June 23 –
“Called by Name – The Commissioning of Mary Magdalene, Apostle and Witness” (after the 4pm show, around 5:30)
With Rita L. Houlihan (Director on FutureChurch’s Board, Mary Magdalene advocate), Janet Antico (Theology teacher of Sacred Scripture and Social Justice, Academy of St. Elizabeth), Lizzie Berne DeGear, PhD (Chaplain, feminist Bible Scholar, filmmaker, author of Jesus Found in Translation: The Story within the Story of the Bible’s Earliest Gospel).

June 26 –
“Decriminalizing Sex work” (after the 8:30pm show, around 10pm)
With Kaytlin Bailey (Founder & Executive Director of Old Pros), Veronica Vera (human sexuality writer and actress, doctor of human sexuality).

June 27 –
Talkback with the Magdalene creative team (after the 8:30pm show, around 10pm)
With Sylvia Milo (co-creator, director, actress), Nathan Davis (co-creator, composer), Janice Orlandi (movement director).

Created and Performed by Sylvia Milo and Nathan Davis

Directed, Script by Sylvia Milo

Music and Sound Design by Nathan Davis – composer | percussionist

Movement Director: Janice Orlandi

Choreographer: Natalie Lomonte

Additional Movement: Joanna Kotze

Video and Projection Design: Monica Duncan

Costume Design: Magdalena Dąbrowska(Leaf dress and hood by Carlotta Frascara. Wig in video by Małgorzata Chrastek)

Lighting Design: Nick Houfek

Dramaturg: Jess Applebaum

Stage Manager, Hair and makeup: Kodi Lynn Milburn

Production Assistant: Nora Bohannon

Produced by Little Matchstick Factory

Updated: March 8, 2023

HERE is now a mask-optional space. All patrons attending HERE performances and events will no longer be required to wear masks.

We ask all audience members to please stay home if they have a sore throat, are feeling sick in any other way, or have been recently exposed to COVID-19, and to please contact the box office for refunds or exchanges.

All of our performers, technicians, and staff members are required to be fully vaccinated. Additionally, they are participating in an active testing regimen to keep everyone as safe as possible.

HERE reserves the right to revise protocols as the rate of transmission changes and in light of new scientific data that may present itself.