MILKMAN ZERO is part of Under the Radar 2027
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Hi!
Two weeks ago I told you MILKMAN ZERO premieres in December. Today I get to tell you it's coming back in January as part of the Under the Radar Festival.
Under the Radar is the festival I've looked forward to every January since I moved to New York. I was part of it in 2024 with Bag of Worms, and getting to participate once again means a lot. Presented by Mitu and Under the Radar, the run is six more performances, January 20 through 24, in the same theater at Mitu580 in Gowanus. Think of it as an encore run of the show :)
If you haven't read the last email: it's a solo performance built inside a text adventure. I sit at a keyboard, I type, and the story spells itself out on a video wall behind me. It's a darkly funny horror story about a milkman trying to deliver milk. It gets much weirder from there. Directed by Jerry Lieblich, with Kate McGee on lights and set and Ryan Gamblin on sound.
Also, in my previous newsletter I made the unfortunate mistake of leaving a crucial member of our team out of the credits: Jeremy Kadetsky on stage management. They won't be with us for the UTR run, since they have a fantastic opportunity lined up for those dates and we're excited for them, but they're on the December world premiere team.
On that note, December is still the world premiere and still on sale. So now there are two ways in. December tickets are here, and January tickets are through Under the Radar. Either way, the code CHUG gets you $25 tickets to any performance. And heads up: the $20 early bird tickets for the first week of the December run are nearly gone.
Same ask as last time: word of mouth is how people find this show. If you know someone who'd like this, forward them this email, send them to milkmanzero.com, or share it on Instagram.
See you in December. Or January.
Matt
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Key art by Yuan Peng
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Mitu and Under the Radar present
a Sad Soft Caves production
MILKMAN ZERO
by Matt Romein · directed by Jerry Lieblich
One performer. One keyboard. One job. Deliver the milk…
World Premiere · December 3–13, 2026
Under the Radar Festival · January 20–24, 2027
Presented in partnership with Under the Radar · utrfest.org
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You are a milkman. You have a job to do. Deliver the milk. But the townspeople are insatiably milk-hungry, the mayor's eyes are brimming with milk-lust, and lurking in the milk-dark shadows, the Milk Monster stalks your every move. Still, you want to do a good job. Maybe even a great job…
MILKMAN ZERO is a darkly funny work of psychological horror built inside a text adventure, the oldest kind of computer game. No graphics, no images, just a world conjured with text and a blinking cursor waiting for the next command. Matt Romein plays the game live from a keyboard as the story spells itself out letter by letter on an LED wall behind him, every character landing with the clack of a typewriter. Like a ghost story around a campfire, the horror takes shape in the audience's collective imagination, one milk delivery at a time.
Work-in-progress showing at CATCH, The Invisible Dog Art Center, 2025. Photo: Maria Baranova.
Part solo performance, part live playthrough: over the course of an evening, the world of MILKMAN ZERO continues to exist only as long as the player keeps typing.
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When
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World Premiere · December
Thu Dec 3 · 7:30pm (Opening)
Fri Dec 4 · 7:30pm
Sat Dec 5 · 7:30pm
Sun Dec 6 · 2:00pm
Thu Dec 10 · 7:30pm
Fri Dec 11 · 7:30pm
Sat Dec 12 · 7:30pm
Sun Dec 13 · 2:00pm
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Under the Radar · January
Wed Jan 20 · 7:30pm
Thu Jan 21 · 7:30pm
Fri Jan 22 · 7:30pm
Sat Jan 23 · 2:00pm
Sat Jan 23 · 7:30pm
Sun Jan 24 · 2:00pm
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Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission. Recommended for ages 13+.
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Where
MITU580
580 Sackett Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Theater Mitu's 60-seat black box in Gowanus, a short walk from Union St (R) and Carroll St (F, G). No stairs, ramp at the entrance, floor seating available. Accessibility questions: [email protected].
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Tickets
$30 — General Admission
$60 — Actual Cost Ticket
Use code CHUG at checkout for $25 tickets to any performance, December or January.
Both runs on sale now.
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Milk Pouch
You are carrying: a knife, a milk, a small key, a water.
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Credits
Writer, Coder, Performer: Matt Romein
Director: Jerry Lieblich
Lighting + Set Design: Kate McGee
Sound Design: Ryan Gamblin
Stage Manager: Jeremy Kadetsky
Associate Producer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Key Art: Yuan Peng
Dramaturgical Consultant & Additional Material: James La Bella
Coding Consultant: Oren Shoham
Publicity: Privy Collective
Presented by: Mitu (Expansion Works Program) and Under the Radar
A Sad Soft Caves Production
MILKMAN ZERO was made possible, in part, by the Franklin Furnace FUND 2025-26, supported by Jerome Foundation and the members and friends of Franklin Furnace Archive.
The production is developed, in part, with support from Theater Mitu's Artists-At-Home Program and presented as part of Mitu's Expansion Works Program.
Technical equipment and support provided by Onassis ONX.
Developed, in part, during residencies at MacDowell, Yaddo, the Bogliasco Foundation, and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, with work-in-progress presentations at CATCH at The Invisible Dog Art Center and IDFA DocLab.
Full credits, bios, funders, and press info in the press release.
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