The Mary-Arrchie Theatre's marathon showcase of emerging talent features a slew of fringe companies and solo artists. Hoping to honor the spirit of the late anarchist author of Woodstock Nation, "Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins" was founded to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Woodstock festival, and emulates that countercultural benchmark by offering an almost constant flow of acts while seeking to stimulate a communal spirit among performers and audience (which may be enhanced by sleep deprivation). As it happens, the festival's tenth annual edition also marks the 30th anniversary of the Chicago Democratic convention, which Hoffman and others turned into a forum for antiwar activism. A sliding admission-price scale allows audiences to attend a specific show or to come and go throughout the weekend; there's a convenience store at the gas station across the street for those in need of a middle-of-the-night snack, and the theater is air-conditioned. Participants include A Red Orchid Theatre, the Defiant Theatre Company, Drew Richardson, Abby Schachner, Broken Pilgrims in Gothic Sneakers, the Shit, Wax Lips Theatre Company, and Theatre Wyrzuc as well as Mary-Arrchie, whose own entries include Gas Mask 101, a nostalgic look at Vietnam War-era college life, and a remounting of its 1986 inaugural production, Sam Shepard's 4-H Club. Informality and spontaneity are the order of the day--so note that the schedule listed below, provided at the beginning of the week, may be subject to change. Mary-Arrchie Theatre, Angel Island, 731 W. Sheridan, 773-871-0442. August 21 through 23: Friday-Sunday, according to the schedule below. Tickets: $5 per admission (allows you to come in once and stay as long as you can take it); $10 for a one-day pass (allows you to come and go at will on a single day); $25 for a weekend pass to the full festival.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21
Opening Procession
Celebrants will gather at 2 PM at Richard J. Daley Civic Center Plaza, 50 W. Washington, for a 3 PM march to Mary-Arrchie's home base at Angel Island.
Opening Ceremonies
Actor and festival organizer Richard Cotovsky adopts the persona of Abbie Hoffman to welcome the audience. 7 PM.
Stuff We're Saving Up
Rash Productions presents Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller's play about "two people going through life with all their emotional shit in a garbage can." Kirsten Kelly directs. 7:15 PM.
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
Iguana Productions presents John Weagly's play about a reclusive woman who becomes obsessed with Jon Bon Jovi. 7:40 PM.
The Great Egress
G. Riley Mills's drama, written especially for this festival, concerns two clowns in a seedy Ohio hotel who are approached by a stranger offering them a mysterious job. It's presented by the Skeleton Crew Theatre. 8 PM.
Starbug: Episode #55
Chris Metzger performs his ongoing sci-fi superhero serial about an interstellar insect and his fight against evil. Each performance of Starbug during the festival will feature a different episode. 8:40 PM.
Morning Coffee
Frederick Stroppel's dark comedy, about a man and a woman ending their five-year relationship, is presented by Sparkwood and 21. 8:50 PM.
Man's Images in the 20th Century
The Gilead Theatre Company presents Phil Donlon's collection of monologues and vignettes about racism, homelessness, and other evils of our era. 9:35 PM.
Gas Mask 101
Arlene Cook's weirdly wistful portrait of college guys fretting over the draft in 1970--the era of campus protests, guilt-free dope, and sexually segregated dorms--is presented by the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. 10:15 PM.
Starbug: Episode #56
See listing for 8:40 PM Friday. 11:05 PM.
The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year
The Phoenix Theatre Company presents John Guare's short, quirky romantic comedy. 11:15 PM.
Cathode Sleep
"Two characters discuss their dreamless lives while waiting for the conclusion of a never-ending commercial break on TV," in Theatre Babble's production of Terry Hornsby's play. Midnight.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
Action Movie: The Play
The Defiant Theatre presents excerpts from its current production of Richard Ragsdale and Joe Foust's "reverent parody" of celluloid thrillers. "Action Movie: The Play . . . provide[s] its audiences with a visceral, confrontational theatergoing experience. [The show] walks a fine line between idolatry and irony, skewering the very features it lionizes. . . . As far as pure spectacle goes, [it's] always entertaining and frequently breathtaking," says Reader critic Nick Green. 12:20 AM.
Pubic Service Announcement and Rev. Anal Roberts
Scott Dominion, a longtime "Abbie Hoffman" fan turned participant, performs two monologues. 12:40 AM.
Broken Pilgrims in Gothic Sneakers
The comedy troupe performs improvisation. 12:50 AM.
Heat
Fat Jimmy Theater Company presents Paul Moulton's short political satire about an election in a developing nation. 1:20 AM.
Wild Dogs
Matt Borczon's play concerns "two males [who] turn their hostility toward women on each other," said Reader critic Tom Valeo when he reviewed this Mary-Arrchie Theatre production in 1991; the play is still trotted out for this yearly festival. 1:40 AM.
An Evening of Rant
Unprofessional Thtr. Chicago explores "light energy eccentrics" in this program of monologues, scenes, and audience participation. 2:10 AM.
Chester Drawers
Scott Dominion performs a monologue. 3:10 AM.
Fortune Cookie
Red Dawn Productions premieres a short piece by Adria Dawn and the Red Dawn ensemble, about a young woman's struggle with herself and life's ups and downs. 3:15 AM.
The Lawn Goose and Skull Museum
The Regal Beagles perform Matt Lageman and Jill Hutcheson's comedy about two rich eccentrics trying to convince a small town it needs culture. 3:45 AM.
To be announced
4:15 to 5 AM.
Take Talk
A Red Orchid Theatre performs early-morning talk radio for the stage. 5 AM.
To be announced
6 to 8 AM.
Breakfast With the Mole
Joe Winston of the cable-access TV show This Week in Joe's Basement presents a talk show hosted by the Mole. The program is presented by Ow Myeye Productions. 8 AM.
To be announced
The Author's Voice
Richard Greenberg's play, about a hack writer who keeps a brilliant gnome as his ghostwriter, is presented by OnWee Productions. 9 AM.
To be announced
9:45 AM to noon.
Famous in the Future
The comedy troupe performs an untitled series of skits and songs. Noon.
To be announced 12:55 to 1 PM.
Keep Both Eyes Open
John Corwin's play, presented by the Wax Lips Theatre Company, finds a woman talking to her boyfriend in almost total darkness, discussing a play whose description may also apply to the couple's relationship. 1 PM.
Krapp's Last Tape
Samuel Beckett's short, intense character study, about an elderly man reacting to his own tape-recorded memoirs, is performed by PUS (Performers Under Stress). Director Scott Baker's "ultralow-budget version of Beckett's 1958 masterpiece . . . is crisp, clean, and intelligent. . . . Sadly, [actor] Turk Muller lacks . . . range and depth, and his regular-guy, blue-collar stage persona is in constant conflict with Beckett's intellectually pretentious protagonist," said Reader critic Jack Helbig when he reviewed the production's original run. 2 PM.
To be announced
2:45 to 3 PM.
Heat
See listing for 1:20 AM Saturday. 3 PM.
Spookville
Catfish Productions presents three one-acts by Don Nigro; Jonathan Browning directs. 3:20 PM.
The Great Egress
See listing for 8 PM Friday. 4 PM.
To be announced
4:40 to 5 PM.
The Author's Voice
See listing for 9 AM Saturday. 5 PM.
My Shins
This comedy troupe combines live improv with film and video. 5:45 PM.
To be announced
5:55 to 6 PM.
Linger Awhile
Famous in the Future presents Terry Flamm's satire on the media and capital punishment, in which a family wins a government lottery to have a convicted killer executed in their home. 6 PM.
Starbug: Episode #57
See listing for 8:40 PM Friday. 6:55 PM.
The Psychology of Clumsiness
Self-styled "dramatic fool" Drew Richardson traces his art back to the day in 1964 when his mother laughed so hard at a Harold Lloyd film festival that her water broke and Drew was born. He performs his new one-man adult clown show, based on "the relationships between the brain, irrationality, decision making, and motor skills." Said Reader critic Jack Helbig when he reviewed the show's original run: "Richardson [is] a good artist [with] a delightful stage persona, a sweet naif constantly at war with mean-spirited inanimate objects. His current show is a series of sketches--some silent, some not--in which he explores the ins and outs of the human brain." 7:05 PM.
4-H Club
The Mary-Arrchie Theatre revives its 1986 debut production: Sam Shepard's study of "three men trapped by interdependency [who] struggle for power and belonging." 8 PM.
Searching in the Land of Burroughs
Brian Gary Kirst's solo show, presented by Theatre Wyrzuc, recounts a young man's journey through the geographical and psychosexual landscape inhabited by radical gay novelist William S. Burroughs. 8:40 PM.
Pubic Service Announcement and Rev. Anal Roberts
See listing for 12:40 AM Saturday. 9 PM.
The Lawn Goose and Skull Museum
See listing for 3:45 AM Saturday. 9:10 PM.
Letters From Darkness
Audra Budrys performs the work of Romanian poet Daniela Crasnaru in this Mary-Arrchie Theatre production. 9:40 PM.
Stuff We're Saving Up
See listing for 7:15 PM Friday. 9:50 PM.
Starbug: Episode #58
See listing for 8:40 PM Friday. 10:10 PM.
Unauthorized
The Shit improv team performs a weekly "unauthorized biography." 10:20 PM.
Dead Dwarf Intermezzo
The Mary-Arrchie Theatre presents John Weagly's play. 11:20 PM.
Back and to the Left
The Conspiracy Theater Company's improvised comedy uses audience suggestions to invent a different conspiracy theory at every show. 11:30 PM.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 23
Meet the Mole
See description for Breakfast With the Mole at 8 AM Saturday. 12:15 AM.
Klondike Kelly
The Mary-Arrchie Theatre presents Karen Burris in John Weagly's one-woman play about "life as a hobo." 12:35 AM.
Broken Pilgrims in Gothic Sneakers
See listing for 12:50 AM Saturday. 12:45 AM.
Stuff
Monologuist Abby Schachner performs "30 minutes of spontaneous eruptions stemming from the inner sanctums of her mind." 1:15 AM.
M.C. Square
Scott Dominion performs a monologue. 1:45 AM.
To be announced
1:50 to 2:20 AM.
My Shins
See listing for 5:45 PM Saturday. 2:20 AM.
Slimm
The comedy group performs an improv set. 2:30 AM.
Bitch With Rich
This late-night kvetch session is hosted by talk-show terrorist "Skid Mark" (aka Richard Cotovsky); a regular ensemble, guest artists, and video segments are featured, and audience participation is de rigueur in this Mary-Arrchie Theatre effort. 3 AM.
Meet the Mole
See description for Breakfast With the Mole at 8 AM Saturday. 4 AM.
To be announced
4:15 to 5 AM.
Take Talk
See listing for 5 AM Saturday. 5 AM.
To be announced
6 to 8 AM.
Breakfast With the Mole
See listing for 8 AM Saturday. 8 AM.
To be announced
Wild Dogs
See listing for 1:40 AM Saturday. 11:30 AM.
Readings From Revolution for the Hell of It
Don't steal this book, just listen to it: actors perform passages from Abbie Hoffman's manifesto. Noon.
Krapp's Last Tape
See listing for 2 PM Saturday. 1 PM.
To be announced
1:45 to 2 PM.
Nux
Chongo's Bongo Village presents "a psycho-sonic adventure dealing with civil liberty and organic chemistry." 2 PM.
Morning Coffee
See listing for 8:50 PM Friday. 3 PM.
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
See listing for 7:40 PM Friday. 3:45 PM.
The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year
See listing for 11:15 PM Friday. 4 PM.
To be announced
4:45 to 5 PM.
4-H Club
See listing for 8 PM Saturday. 5 PM.
Searching in the Land of Burroughs
See listing for 8:40 PM Saturday. 5:40 PM.
Famous in the Future
See listing for noon Saturday. 6 PM.
Starbug: Episode #59
See listing for 8:40 PM Friday. 6:55 PM.
Keep Both Eyes Open
See listing for 1 PM Saturday. 7:05 PM.
My Shins
See listing for 5:45 PM Saturday. 7:45 PM.
To be announced
7:55 to 8:05 PM.
Spookville
See listing for 3:20 PM Saturday. 8:05 PM.
The Author's Voice
See listing for 9 AM Saturday. 8:40 PM.
Meditations
Writer-actor Christian Murphy's one-man play, a winner of the Factory Theater's "Shut Up and Laugh!" comedy festival, concerns a young salesman confronting his empty lifestyle of conspicuous consumption. 9:20 PM.
Klondike Kelly
See listing for 12:35 AM Sunday. 10 PM.
Fortune Cookie
See listing for 3:15 AM Saturday. 10:10 PM.
Starbug: Episode #60
See listing for 8:40 PM Friday. 10:30 PM.
To be announced
10:40 to 11 PM.
Gas Mask 101
See listing for 10:15 PM Friday. 11 PM.
Closing Ceremonies
Richard Cotovsky as Abbie Hoffman pronounces a farewell benediction. Midnight.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): 4-H Club photo by Daniel Guidara.
Comments