How to Swallow a Volcano
Tues, July 21 @ 7:00 PM & Wed, July 22 @ 9:30 PM, 2026

Writer and Performer: Anne McDermott
Director: Padraic Lillis

How to Swallow a Volcano is a solo show written and performed by Anne McDermott about anger, love, and the art of making bad choices with abandon. Moving between sessions with an unflappable therapist and the mess of real life, Anne navigates bad romances, family dysfunction, spiritual misadventures, and the kind of emotional logic that only denial can cosign. It’s fast, intimate, and unapologetically human.

How to Swallow a Volcano explores what happens when being “nice” becomes a liability and invites audiences to laugh, wince, and recognize themselves in the uncomfortable, often hilarious process of learning choose yourself.

“McDermott gives a powerhouse performance…Her words are witty and her emotions raw…Her performance is so magnetic and so grounded in truth that one cannot help but feel her feelings with her.”
– Arts Independent

“Anne McDermott is an incredible storyteller!”
– Arts and Entertainment Compass